The Battle of Manhattan
by Canon-ishPairings
Summary: AU. When the Argo II hung above New Rome not everything went according to the plan. Even without Leo firing at the Romans, they all want to kill each other and it seems someone wants to prevent it. So they got a book. To read. Because there's nothing better to do in the middle of a war than reading a book. (canon ships)
1. Prologue

It was not going well.

Honestly, Percy didn't expect a miracle, huge welcome party and light, friendly chatting, but reality cruelly crushed his hopes. Yes, it was obvious from the start there would be lots of glares, arguing and harsh words, however knifes on throats and swords at hearts were a bit too much in his opinion. Didn't they know how to talk? Where's the Athena's cabin when you need them?

"You filthy – "

"Could we please talk – "

"_Take that stick from my face – "_

"It's not a stick! It's a – "

"Percy, tell her we don't – "

"_And we honored you with Praetor's title –"_

Irritation was building up in Percy as he watched the scene.

_Argo II_ landed – ah, okay, so "landed" was too big word – the ship _hung_ above New Rome over an hour ago, but it seemed like eternity. At first it went shockingly well (he should've suspected something back then); no one attacked the crew of _Argo II_ the second they stepped off the ship, though it could've been caused by aftereffects of giant's attack. He even got a short while to reunite with Annabeth (smugness raised within him at her gobsmacked expression at his sight) and they all decided to calmly talk.

But as one could expect, it turned out thy didn't agree on… well, everything. From the procedure to set off on a quest, to hierarchy on said quest. Octavian couldn't live down that the seven wasn't planning on having one, supreme leader, too.

At the very least, Percy was glad at who was included in the quest. Frank and Hazel were obviously more than okay, Annabeth even more so, but he had minor doubts about the reminded three. Especially Jason; he was afraid Jason could have some objections to Percy taking his place at Camp Jupiter, with becoming the Praetor and all. However it seemed they were all chill.

Well, maybe 'chill' wasn't the best word to describe Jason, but he was clearly cool with Percy and that made him good in Percy's book. And his girlfriend, Piper, appeared to be pretty cool, too, though he wasn't sure if her Hello Kitty shirt was a joke or no. Also Leo gave Percy an impression of someone he could get along with; most of them all, actually. He thought immediately they shared the same, dumb sense of humor.

Speaking of them, they stood at the side with Reyna, Frank, Hazel and some other uninvolved in the arguments Romans, observing intently the unfolding scene. Only Jason and Reyna tried to calm everyone down, but to no avail.

"Would you all shut up for a sec?" Percy shouted over the noise. And with no success. "Oh, gods help me or I – " he trailed off as his gaze landed on some bottles with water and juice.

Water.

He smirked. The bottles exploded with a slight _crash_ and the water went flying everywhere, soaking people in the area around Percy. He, of course, stayed dry, as some other lucky demigods further away from him.

Everyone fell silent immediately. Then, they turned to him as one. In an afterthought, he didn't think it through.

"So" he cleared his throat. "Can we talk, without pointing at each other with sharp objects, now?"

"Talk!" spluttered Octavian. It seemed like Reyna tried hard to resist rolling her eyes, but Percy had no problem with it. "With this lying, sneaky – "

"Look," he interrupted him. "It's the gods' wish –" _kind of_." – to unite both camps. Greeks and Romans have to work together – "

"We won't unite with this scum! Good for nothing – "

"Hey!" Annabeth glared at Octavian, causing a whimper to escape from a Roman she had before her knife. "Watch what you're saying. You have no idea what we did last summer and through the years and so, you have no right to call us 'good for nothing'!"

"Please" scoffed some other Roman from the First Cohort, who miraculously managed to stay out of anyone's weapon. "You should kiss our feet after last summer! We won a war while you were – "

"_Excuse me_?" cut in angrily both Percy and Annabeth.

"_You_ won a war? With whom? Party Ponnies?" he said then.

"Party Ponnies?" Reyna raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't ask. But we were the ones who won the war! We fought Kronos!"

"Mainly Percy" added Annabeth.

"Rubbish" said Octavian disbelievingly as snorts and gasps went around the forum.

And it went downhill from there.

This time, unfortunately, no one tried to calm the demigods down. Nearly everyone got involved in the argument about the war and these who didn't (like the Seven, bar Percy and Annabeth, and Reyna), after getting hit and nearly losing their cool, decided to back down and wait it out.

Only it seemed it was getting more heated and aggressive with a moment. You couldn't hear anyone speak anymore – it was just a giant, angry shout from everyone on the forum. It got out of hand completely, the consequences would be disastrous, if nothing stopped the furious demigods.

Or, it would've been, but a flash of light and a startling thunder overpowered all the noise.

Next to Jason lay a thin book in black cover. A note fell gracefully on top of it, slowly enough to catch everyone's attention.

Throwing hesitant look around, Jason took the note.

"Read out loud" said Reyna. "It may be from the gods."

"Read it" said Jason in a dull voice after scanning it quickly.

"What?"

"That's what it says: read it" he repeated.

"Just that?" Percy shook his head. "Typical."

"Clearly it's about the book" Annabeth nodded at the book at Jason's feet. "I think they want us to read it."

"Yeah, but who's 'they'?" said Leo.

"My guess is on the gods" answered Reyna confidently. "New Rome is unreachable for anyone who doesn't know where it is and besides demigods, only gods could know this."

"True" nodded thoughtfully Annabeth. "But why would gods want us to read, of all the things?"

Percy rolled his eyes, sighing and went to pick up the book.

"_Well_" he said. "Maybe if we took a look, it would be clear" saying it, he opened the book. He then frowned. "It's in Greek. And… and it says _The battle of Manhattan_."

He gulped, looking up at Annabeth.

"What battle?" asked a Roman from the back of crowd. Everyone gathered around the book, instantly smelling some news.

"Maybe we shouldn't read it" said Percy quickly, getting a glimpse at the first pages. For some reason, he paled slightly.

"Oh, I think you know what battle" sneered Octavian, wrongly interpreting Percy's worried expression. "I think – " he said loudly enough to be heard by the whole crowd. " – that the gods send us this to show the Greeks' fall and how we had to clean up the mess after them, ending the war!"

Some Romans muttered in agreement, some frowned. Reyna, like a few others, didn't fail to notice Percy and Annabeth share a knowing glance, a mixture of amusement and anxiety.

"Could I see it, Percy?" said Reyna.

She was handed the book and she looked through the chapters quickly.

"Wait, you said it's Greek. But it's Latin" she noticed suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

Newcomers and a few Romans walked up to her and tried to peek over her shoulder.

"No, it's Greek!" protested Percy.

"It's Latin" disagreed Jason.

"It's French" said surprised Piper.

"It's Greek!"

"It's Latin!"

"Greek."

"Latin."

"Latin."

"Greek."

"It's English" blurted out Frank.

Demigods gathered around the book looked up at him.

"Okay, I think it's in the language we can read" said Annabeth. "That would hint again on the gods… but, English, Frank?"

"I don't have dyslexia" he mumbled, scratching his ear. "Just lactose intolerance."

Leo snorted at this, but was quickly silenced by Piper's elbow.

"Right. So, who thinks we should read it?" Reyna turned to the crowd.

"We should make a proper – "

"Who thinks we shouldn't?" she ignored Octavian and gazed around the raised hands.

Obviously, at the second question there were only a few votes.

"We read it" said for her Annabeth.

One more flash of light and startling thunder.

This time, in quite calm atmosphere, the noise was startling and everyone jumped in surprise. Another note fell just as gracefully as the previous one on top of the book in Reyna's hands. A group of demigods around the Praetor eyed it.

"Huh" said Percy.

Reyna took the note and read through it quickly.

"This _is_ from gods. Kind of" she said. "And… it turns out we have a lot of time to read."

"What do you mean?" frowned Annabeth.

Reyna raised her eyes to them.

"The time has stopped."

* * *

**Yeah, yeah, "time has stopped" cliche, but I swear I have a reason. This chapter is really short, the other are longer (well duh), but even these without text from the books are way longer - I have written a few, so you can keep me on that. **

**Anyways, welcome to my new story and please, _please review._ There will be update ever two - three weeks, suggestions are very much welcome! **

**Okay, the more reviews, the bigger possibility I'll add another chapter sooner (just saying). And btw, I'm not going to make the whole series or a whole book - only most of TLO. Generally the Battle of Manhattan and a few events before it.**

**I think it's all, if you have questions - shoot! Again, suggestions are good and if you have some constructive criticism, it's welcome, too.**

**Ronnie's out, folks.**


	2. 1 MY COOKIES GET SCORCHED

It wasn't as easy as it seemed at first.

Before they even opened the book, hours went by filled with arguing, choosing places to sit, making arrangements and the likes. Octavian surely wasn't helping the case.

In all the chaos there was a second when something caught Percy's eye in the shadows not far away from the forum. Walking through the mess, he fortunately didn't attract any attention, so he quickly came to where he saw movement, in the woods.

"Hello?"

For a second there was no answer.

"It would be such a bad idea if I were a monster" said young, male voice at least.

He instantly recognized it.

"Nico? Come on, where are you?" he looked around. He heard a sigh and familiar dark posture came out of the shadows. "Why are you here?"

"I was informed about… it all" he gestured vaguely at the forum. "I'm supposed to be here, it seems."

"Then why won't you come there?"

"It's… not a good idea" he averted his gaze. "I'm better here. I'll hear everything just fine, Reyna and Annabeth can be trusted with that."

"I suppose so…" Percy frowned. "Still – "

"I'm fine."

He watched for a second Nico's brooding face.

"Okay" he sighed. "But I'll check on you."

"I'm not a child" he rolled his eyes.

"Thirteen-year-olds don't make it high on my 'mature people' list" he turned around, ignoring Nico's glare. "See ya later."

"Says the most mature person here, yeah?"

He chuckled quietly, glancing back briefly above his shoulder, and went back to Annabeth's side.

"What's up?"

"I'll tell you later."

He laced their fingers together.

"Can we just read?" groaned Leo, when they _finally_ sat down at the forum, all on gathered there furniture. "Whoa, I didn't think I'd ever say it."

"There's first time for everything" muttered mindlessly Piper, focused on observing people.

"But he's right. Let's start reading" said Annabeth, the book neatly on her lap, Percy at her side. "May I start?"

"Of course" agreed Reyna before Octavian could cut in.

"**MY COOKIES GET SCORCHED**"

"What?"

Muttering and snorts went around the forum.

"What's that got with the war?" said irritably Octavian.

"That's the chapter's title" explained Annabeth. "It's from the first point of view."

**I don't recommend shadow travel **

Everyone seemed confused as to what this shadow travel is, but no one bothered to comment on it loudly.

**if you're scared of: **

**a) The dark **

**b) Cold shivers up your spine**

**c) Strange noises **

**d) Going so fast you feel like your face is peeling off **

"Oh my gods."

Nearly everyone winced, frowned or made a grossed out face at the mere thought.

**In other words, I thought it was awesome. **

Annabeth paused for a second to raise an eyebrow at sheepishly smiling Percy.

Others seemed to wonder who the Hades was it about.

"Gods, they're bonkers" said Hazel from beside Percy and he had to bit his lip.

**One minute I couldn't see anything. I could only feel Mrs. O'Leary's fur and my fingers wrapped around the bronze links of her dog collar. **

"Mrs. O'Leary…"

Everyone first turned to the big Hellhound at the back, then at Percy.

"I know nothing" he held up his hand. "Amnesia, remember?"

He didn't mention memories slowly flooding back to him.

"But don't you remember anything with Mrs. O'Leary?" pushed Reyna.

"Nope. It could be before I got her" he shrugged and Annabeth didn't bother to correct him, though she knew better.

**The next minute the shadows melted into a new scene. We were on a cliff in the woods of Connecticut. At least, it looked like Connecticut from the few times I'd been there: lots of trees, low stone walls, big houses. Down one side of the cliff, a highway cut through a ravine. Down the other side was someone's backyard. The property was huge—more wilderness than lawn. The house was a two-story white Colonial. Despite the fact that it was right on the other side of the hill from a highway, it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. I could see a light glowing m the kitchen window. A rusty old swing set stood under an apple tree. **

"Okay, that's nice and all, but it doesn't seem like a war story" said Reyna, furrowing her eyebrows.

Jason nodded, deep in thought.

"Maybe it's important for the later happenings?" suggested some Roman.

**I couldn't imagine living in a house like this, with an actual yard and everything. I'd lived in a tiny apartment or a school dorm my whole life. If this was Luke's home, I wondered why he'd ever wanted to leave. **

Annabeth took a breath before continuing.

"Who's Luke?" said Leo.

His friends just shrugged and no one else seemed to have an answer. Well, besides Percy, who pretended to not hear him.

**Mrs. O'Leary staggered. I remembered what Nico**

"Wait!"

Athena's daughter looked at Reyna quizzically.

The Romans moved at the name, looking at each other questioningly, as though asking "_You're thinking what I am_?"

"Shadow travel… Nico…" she glanced at Hazel. "Why do I have a feeling it's about Nico di Angelo?"

"You know him?" said Annabeth surprised.

"You do, too?"

"We took him to camp when he was ten" answered for her Percy, looking stunned at it himself. "That little…! Oh, when I see him next time…" he subconsciously glanced at the shadows.

"He was spying for them!" cried Octavian out of sudden.

You can imagine, it took a lot to shut him up then.

**had said about shadow travel draining her, so I slipped off her back. She let out a huge toothy yawn that would've scared a T. rex, then turned in a circle and flopped down so hard the ground shook. **

**Nico appeared right next to me, as if the shadows had darkened and created him. **

"That's definitely Nico."

**He stumbled, but I caught his arm. **

**"I'm okay," he managed, rubbing his eyes. **

**"How did you do that?" **

"Good question" mumbled Reyna.

**"Practice. A few times running into walls. A few accidental trips to China." **

A few demigods snorted and then caught themselves, shocked they laughed at something a son of Pluto said.

**Mrs. O'Leary started snoring. If it hadn't been for the roar of traffic behind us, I'm sure she would've woken up the whole neighborhood. **

Percy smiled at this.

"What?" whispered Hazel, but he just shook his head.

**"Are you going to take a nap too?" I asked Nico. **

**He shook his head. "The first time I shadow traveled, I passed out for a week. **

"Whoa, that's a long nap" said Leo.

**Now it just makes me a little drowsy, but I can't do it more than once or twice a night. Mrs. O'Leary won't be going anywhere for a while." **

**"So we've got some quality time in Connecticut." I gazed at the white Colonial house. "What now?" **

**"We ring the doorbell," Nico said. **

"Seriously" interrupted again a Roman. "Who's point of view it is?"

"Whoever it is, they seem like pretty good friends with di Angelo" said someone else.

"Exactly."

Percy, Hazel and Frank frowned at that.

**If I were Luke's mom, I would not have opened my door at night for two strange kids. But I wasn't anything like Luke's mom. **

"Oh, good, we can scratch that one" said Leo sarcastically.

**I knew that even before we reached the front door. The sidewalk was lined with those little stuffed beanbag animals you see in gift shops. There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, even a teeny Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper. **

"Nice" muttered Jason.

**Judging from their sad shape, the beanbag creatures had been sitting out here a long time—since the snow melted last spring at least. One of the hydras had a tree sapling sprouting between its necks. **

The children of Mars grinned at that.

**The front porch was infested with wind chimes. Shiny bits of glass and metal clinked in the breeze. Brass ribbons tinkled like water and made me realize I needed to use the bathroom. I didn't know how Ms. Castellan could stand all the noise.**

"Luke Castellan" said Piper. "Anyone knows that guy?"

Her only answer were 'nope's and shaking heads.

**The front door was painted turquoise. The name CASTELLAN was written in English, and below in Greek: Διοικητής φρουρίου.**

"So a Greek demigod" pointed out Reyna and Octavian narrowed his eyes at the Greeks.

**Nico looked at me. "Ready?" **

**He'd barely tapped the door when it swung open. **

"Bad omen" muttered Leo.

**"Luke!" the old lady cried happily. **

**She looked like someone who enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets. **

Everyone snorted with laugher in surprise at the comment.

**Her white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head. Her pink housedress was covered in scorch marks and smears of ash. When she smiled, her face looked unnaturally stretched, and the high-voltage light in her eves made me wonder if she was blind. **

"Made who wonder" asked Reyna quietly.

**"Oh, my dear boy!" She hugged Nico. **

"Okaay."

All the demigods looked slightly freaked out at this.

**I was trying to figure out why she thought Nico was Luke **

"You and me, bro" sighed a son of Mercury.

"It may be a girl" pointed out Reyna.

**(they looked absolutely nothing alike), when she smiled at me and said, "Luke!" **

"Okay, that's really creepy" said Leo.

The others nodded in agreement.

**She forgot all about Nico and gave me a hug. She smelled like burned cookies. She was as thin as a scarecrow, but that didn't stop her from almost crushing me. **

**"Come in!" she insisted. "I have your lunch ready!" **

"That's a bad idea" said a Roman girl.

"That's how people get killed in horror movies" Piper told Leo. He couldn't agree more.

**She ushered us inside. The living room was even weirder than the front lawn. Mirrors and candles filled every available space. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing my own reflection. **

No one bothered to comment on it, but their expressions spoke louder than any words could.

**Above the mantel, a little bronze Hermes **

"That's Mercury for you" put in Annabeth.

**flew around the second hand of a ticking clock. I tried to imagine the god of messengers ever falling in love with this old woman, but the idea was too bizarre. **

"They say it as though they actually met the god" noticed suspiciously a son of Bellona.

**Then I noticed the framed picture on the mantel, and I froze. It was exactly like Rachel's sketch—**

"Who's Rachel?" asked dramatically Leo, throwing his arms in the air.

**Luke around nine years old, with blond hair and a big smile and two missing teeth. The lack of a scar on his face made him look like a different person—carefree and happy. How could Rachel have known about that picture? **

"We're like two pages into the book and the level of creepiness is already beyond high. Can we rethink reading it?" Jason just rolled his eyes at Leo and motioned at Annabeth to read on.

**"This way, my dear!" Ms. Castellan steered me toward the back of the house. "Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!" **

**She sat us down at the kitchen table. Stacked on the counter were hundreds—I mean hundreds—of Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside. **

"Creepy" muttered Dakota.

"Oh, can you all stop with the 'creepy' comment?" said finally Annabeth.

**The ones on the bottom were green and fuzzy, like they'd been there for a long time. **

"Ewww!" came from the children of Venus and some other demigods whilst everyone made a face.

**The smell reminded me of my sixth grade locker—and that's not a good thing. **

**On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each one had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers. A beanbag Medusa sat by the faucet like she was guarding the mess. **

**Ms. Castellan started humming as she got out peanut butter and jelly and started making a new sandwich. Something was burning in the oven. I got the feeling more cookies were on the way. **

**Above the sink, taped all around the window, were dozens of little pictures cut from magazines and newspaper ads—pictures of Hermes from the FTD Flowers logo and Quickie Cleaners,**

"If they recognized Hermes from the pictures, that means they _did_ meet him" pointed out again Reyna.

The idea seemed mind-blowing to Romans.

**pictures of the caduceus from medical ads. **

**My heart sank. I wanted to get out of that room, but Ms. Castellan kept smiling at me as she made the sandwich, like she was making sure I didn't bolt. **

**Nico coughed. "Urn, Ms. Castellan?" **

**"Mm?" **

**"We need to ask you about your son." **

**"Oh, yes! They told me he would never come back. But I knew better." She patted my cheek affectionately, giving me peanut butter racing stripes. **

"Run" whispered Leo.

These, who heard him, gave him quiet chuckles.

**"When did you last see him?" Nico asked. **

**Her eyes lost focus.**

"Bad, bad, bad omen."

**"He was so young when he left," she said wistfully. "Third grade. That's too young to run away! He said he'd be back for lunch. And I waited. He likes peanut butter sandwiches and cookies and Kool-Aid. **

Dakota pushed his own Kool-Aid away from himself, earning a few smirks.

**He'll be back for lunch very soon. . . ." Then she looked at me and smiled. "Why, Luke, there you are! You look so handsome. You have your father's eyes." **

**She turned toward the pictures of Hermes above the sink.**

"Of course, a son of Hermes" nodded Piper to herself.

Percy and Annabeth shared a glance again, this time noticed by Reyna. They were quite amused by how everyone got so involved in trying to figure out who the book is about. Wasn't it quite obvious, really?

**"Now, there's a good man. Yes, indeed. He comes to visit me, you know." **

**The clock kept ticking in the other room. I wiped the peanut butter off my face and looked at Nico pleadingly, like Can we get out of here now?**

"Why am I not surprised it's Pluto's son's doing?" said some Roman quietly.

**"Ma'am," Nico said. "What, uh . . . what happened to your eyes?" **

Percy hoped no one noticed only he was unsurprised at the question.

**Her gaze seemed fractured—like she was trying to focus on him through a kaleidoscope. "Why, Luke, you know the story. It was right before you were born, wasn't it? I'd always been special, able to see through the . . . whatever-they-call-it." **

**"The Mist?" I said. **

**"Yes, dear." She nodded encouragingly. "And they offered me an important job. That's how special I was!" **

**I glanced at Nico, but he looked as confused as I was. **

"What's going on?" whispered someone.

**"What sort of job?" I asked. "What happened?" **

**Ms. Castellan frowned. Her knife hovered over the sandwich bread. "Dear me, it didn't work out, did it? Your father warned me not to try. He said it was too dangerous. But I had to. It was my destiny! And now . . . I still can't get the images out of my head. They make everything seem so fuzzy. Would you like some cookies?" **

"I'll pass – ouch."

**She pulled a tray out of the oven and dumped a dozen lumps of chocolate chip charcoal on the table. **

**"Luke was so kind," Ms. Castellan murmured. "He left to protect me, you know. He said if he went away, the monsters wouldn't threaten me. But I told him the monsters are no threat! They sit outside on the sidewalk all day, and they never come in." She picked up the little stuffed Medusa from the windowsill.**

"I think she needs a specialist."

**"Do they, Mrs. Medusa? No, no threat at all." She beamed at me. "I'm so glad you came home. I knew you weren't ashamed of me!" **

**I shifted in my seat. I imagined being Luke sitting at this table, eight or nine years old, and just beginning to realize that my mother wasn't all there. "Ms. Castellan," I said. **

**"Mom," she corrected. **

**"Um, yeah. Have you seen Luke since he left home?" **

**"Well, of course!" **

**I didn't know if she was imagining that or not. For all I knew, every time the mailman came to the door he was Luke. But Nico sat forward expectantly. **

Percy noticed that with every mention of Nico, the Romans seemed more weirded-out at his actions. Like they didn't expect him to act so normal.

He frowned at the thought, glancing once more at the shadows.

**"When?" he asked. "When did Luke visit you last?" **

**"Well, it was . . . Oh goodness . . ." A shadow passed across her face. "The last time, he looked so different. A scar. A terrible scar, and his voice so full of pain . . ." **

**"His eyes," I said. "Were they gold?" **

**"Gold?" She blinked. "No. How silly. Luke has blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes!" **

**So Luke really had been here, and this had happened before last summer—before he'd turned into Kronos. **

That did it.

"_Come again?!"_

A wave of questions spread around the whole forum. Demigods stared at Annabeth, probably waiting for her to call a bluff, some voicing loudly their disbelieve.

Athena's daughter had a hard time overcoming all the noise.

**"Ms. Castellan?" Nico put his hand on the old woman's arm. "This is very important. Did he ask you for anything?" **

**She frowned as if trying to remember. "My—my blessing. Isn't that sweet?" She looked at us uncertainly. "He was going to a river, and he said he needed my blessing. I gave it to him. Of course I did." **

**Nico looked at me triumphantly.**

"But _why_?" cried some Roman desperately.

Percy swallowed his laughter, insanely pleased at how everyone were getting irritated with not knowing who they were reading about.

And then he jumped when Annabeth pinched his leg. She gave him a warning look, nodding shortly towards Reyna before she turned back to the book. Percy turned his gaze to the Praetor to see her giving him a knowing look.

He winked.

**"Thank you, ma'am. That's all the information we—" **

**Ms. Castellan gasped. She doubled over, and her cookie tray clattered to the floor. Nico and I jumped to our feet. **

**"Ms. Castellan?" I said. **

**"AHHHH," She straightened. I scrambled away and almost fell over the kitchen table, because her eyes—her eyes were glowing green. **

"Told you to run!"

**"My child," she rasped in a much deeper voice. "Must protect him! Hermes, help! Not my child! Not his fate—no!"**

"The hell?"

Hazel flinched at the curse.

"What's going on?" groaned Frank and Percy almost felt bad about not telling them.

_Almost_, he smirked.

**She grabbed Nico by the shoulders and began to shake him as if to make him understand. "Not his fate!"**

**Nico made a strangled scream**

"He acts so human" whispered some Roman.

This time it was enough for Percy as he turned to the Roman.

"Oh, maybe because he _is_ human?" he said angrily.

To say the least, these who hadn't heard the previous comment, were quite confused.

**and pushed her away. He gripped the hilt of his sword. "Percy, we need to get out—" **

"_PERCY_?" everyone turned to him.

"Surprise?"

"It's from your point of view?" asked Hazel.

"Unfortunately" he frowned.

"Then explain to us what is going on" said Reyna.

"Amnesia, remember? I'm sure you'll catch on" he waved her off, motioning Annabeth to continue.

**Suddenly Ms. Castellan collapsed. I lurched forward and caught her before she could hit the edge of the table. **

"Why?" mumbled someone, quiet enough so Percy wouldn't hear.

**I managed to get her into a chair. **

**"Ms. C?" I asked. **

**She muttered something incomprehensible and shook her head. "Goodness. I . . . I dropped the cookies. How silly of me." **

**She blinked, and her eyes were back to normal—or at least, what they had been before. The green glow was gone. **

**"Are you okay?" I asked. **

**"Well, of course, dear. I'm fine. Why do you ask?" **

**I glanced at Nico, who mouthed the word Leave.**

**"Ms. C, you were telling us something," I said. "Something about your son." **

**"Was I?" she said dreamily. "Yes, his blue eyes. We were talking about his blue eyes. Such a handsome boy!" **

**"We have to go," Nico said urgently. "We'll tell Luke . . . uh, we'll tell him you said hello." **

**"But you can't leave!" Ms. Castellan got shakily to her feet, and I backed away. I felt silly being scared of a frail old woman, but the way her voice had changed, the way she'd grabbed Nico . . . **

"Don't worry, Aquaman, I'd be freaked out, too" said Leo.

"…Aquaman?"

**"Hermes will be here soon," she promised. "He'll want to see his boy!" **

**"Maybe next time," I said. "Thank you for—" I looked down at the burned cookies scattered on the floor. "Thanks for everything." **

Annabeth flashed Percy a smile.

**She tried to stop us, to offer us Kool-Aid, but I had to get out of that house. On the front porch, she grabbed my wrist and I almost jumped out of my skin. "Luke, at least be safe. Promise me you'll be safe." **

**"I will . . . Mom." **

**That made her smile. She released my wrist, and as she closed the front door I could hear her talking to the candles: "You hear that? He will be safe. I told you he would be!" **

"That's so…"

"Creepy?"

"Sad" finished a Venus girl, glaring at some other Roman boy.

**As the door shut, Nico and I ran. The little beanbag animals on the sidewalk seemed to grin at us as we passed. **

"When was that, anyways?" said out of blur Jason.

"Last summer."

**Back at the cliff, Mrs. O'Leary had found a friend. **

**A cozy campfire crackled in a ring of stones. A girl about eight years old was sitting cross-legged next to Mrs. O'Leary, scratching the hellhound's ears. **

"Cree – "

"Don't."

**The girl had mousy brown hair and a simple brown dress. She wore a scarf over her head so she looked like a pioneer kid—like the ghost of Little House on the Prairie or something. She poked the fire with a stick, and it seemed to glow more richly red than a normal fire. **

**"Hello," she said. **

**My first thought was: monster. **

"Good" nodded Reyna.

**When you're a demigod and you find a sweet little girl alone in the woods—that's typically a good time to draw your sword and attack. Plus, the encounter with Ms. Castellan had rattled me pretty bad. **

**But Nico bowed to the little girl. "Hello again, Lady." **

"Okay, who's that guy and what did he do to Nico di Angleo?"

"If you knew Nico, you wouldn't ask such a stupid question" Percy glared at a Roman.

He felt guilty then. He didn't like how people spoke about Nico at all, but he realized Hades' son probably had it all the time and he should've done something with it sooner. Yes, he wasn't exactly close to Nico and felt that the younger boy didn't like him much, but after everything they've been through, after the time they spend together, he considered him kind of a friend. Weird kind of a friend, but a friend nonetheless.

**She studied me with eyes as red as the firelight. I decided it was safest to bow. **

**"Sit, Percy Jackson," she said. "Would you like some dinner? **

"It's a goddess" explained Percy at the confused looks.

**After staring at moldy peanut butter sandwiches and burned cookies, I didn't have much of an appetite, but the girl waved her hand and a picnic appeared at the edge of the fire. There were plates of roast beef, baked potatoes, buttered carrots, fresh bread,**

More than a few stomachs rumbled.

**and a whole bunch of other foods I hadn't had in a long time. My stomach started to rumble. It was the kind of home-cooked meal people are supposed to have but never do. The girl made a five-foot-long dog biscuit appear for Mrs. O'Leary, who happily began tearing it to shreds. **

**I sat next to Nico. We picked up our food, and I was about to dig in when I thought better of it. **

**I scraped part of my meal into the flames, the way we do at camp. "For the gods," I said.**

"Smart move" commented briefly Annabeth, ignoring some of the looks.

**The little girl smiled. "Thank you. As tender of the flame, I get a share of every sacrifice, you know." **

"Oooh."

"Yeah."

**"I recognize you now," I said. "The first time I came to camp, you were sitting by the fire, in the middle of the commons area." **

**"You did not stop to talk," the girl recalled sadly. "Alas, most never do. Nico talked to me. He was the first in many years.**

After Percy's answer to the comment, no one dared to say anything this time, but they all clearly wondered about Nico.

**Everyone rushes about. No time for visiting family." **

**"You're Hestia," I said. "Goddess of the Hearth." **

**She nodded. **

**Okay . . . so she looked eight years old. I didn't ask. I'd learned that gods could look any way they pleased. **

"Oh, right" interrupted this time Piper. Annabeth was getting irritated with the interruptions. "About that, did you really meet Hermes?"

"Yeah."

She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Percy shook his head.

"Maybe later" said Annabeth, going back to the book.

**"My lady," Nico asked, "why aren't you with the other Olympians, fighting Typhon?" **

"Again, _what?_"

Percy and Annabeth sighed in unison.

It was getting tiring.

"Maybe we'll explain it all at once after the chapter?" he proposed.

"How long is it?" moaned Leo.

"Long."

**"I'm not much for fighting." Her red eyes flickered. I realized they weren't just reflecting the flames. **

**They were filled with flames—but not like Ares's eyes.**

"So you met Ares, too?"

"Yep."

"He mentioned it when Mars appeared before the quest" reminded Frank.

**Hestia's eyes were warm and cozy. **

**"Besides," she said, "someone has to keep the home fires burning while the other gods are away." **

**"So you're guarding Mount Olympus?" I asked. **

**"'Guard' may be too strong a word. But if you ever need a warm place to sit and a home-cooked meal, you are welcome to visit. Now eat." **

**My plate was empty before I knew it. Nico scarfed his down just as fast. **

"_He eats_?" a girl asked barely above a whisper.

**"That was great," I said. "Thank you, Hestia." **

**She nodded. "Did you have a good visit with May Castellan?" **

**For a moment I'd almost forgotten the old lady with her bright eyes and her maniacal smile, the way she'd suddenly seemed possessed. **

**"What's wrong with her, exactly?" I asked. **

**"She was born with a gift," Hestia said. "She could see through the Mist."**

**"Like my mother,"**

"She can see through the Mist?" said Hazel in surprise, to which he just nodded.

**I said. And I was also thinking, Like Rachel **

Annabeth threw him a wolf stare and he grinned innocently.

**"But the glowing eyes thing—"**

**"Some bear the curse of sight better than others," the goddess said sadly. "For a while, May Castellan had many talents. She attracted the attention of Hermes himself. They had a beautiful baby boy. For a brief time, she was happy. And then she went too far."**

**I remembered what Ms. Castellan had said: They offered me an important job . . . It didn't work out. I wondered what kind of job left you like that.**

"Godly, of course" he answered himself.

**"One minute she was all happy," I said. "And then she was freaking out about her son's fate, like she knew he'd turned into Kronos. What happened to . . . to divide her like that?"**

**The goddess's face darkened. "That is a story I do not like to tell. But May Castellan saw too much. If you are to understand your enemy Luke, you must understand his family."**

**I thought about the sad little pictures of Hermes taped above May Castellan's sink. I wondered if Ms. Castellan had been so crazy when Luke was little. That green-eyed fit could've seriously scared a nine-year-old kid. **

"Are you seriously pitying your enemy?" cut in a Roman guy.

Percy ignored him.

**And if Hermes never visited, if he'd left Luke alone with his mom all those years . . .**

**"No wonder Luke ran away," I said. "I mean, it wasn't right to leave his mom like that, but still—he**

**was just a kid. Hermes shouldn't have abandoned them."**

**Hestia scratched behind Mrs. O'Leary's ears. The hellhound wagged her tail and accidentally knocked over a tree.**

Slight laughter came around.

**"It's easy to judge others," Hestia warned. "But will you follow Luke's path? Seek the same powers?"**

"What powers?"

**Nico set down his plate. "We have no choice, my lady. It's the only way Percy stands a chance."**

"Percy, _what powers?_"

**"Mmm." Hestia opened her hand and the fire roared. Flames shot thirty feet into the air. Heat slapped me in the face. Then the fire died back down to normal.**

**"Not all powers are spectacular." **

"What. Powers."

"Oh, I'll tell you later!"

**Hestia looked at me. "Sometimes the hardest power to master is the power of yielding. Do you believe me?"**

**"Uh-huh," I said. Anything to keep her from messing with her flame powers again.**

A few demigods chuckled.

**The goddess smiled. "You are a good hero, Percy Jackson. Not too proud. I like that.**

"You have a goddess on your side" Reyna said impressed.

"Not only one" disagreed Annabeth. "Nearly every Olympian god got to know Percy enough to either like him or hate him"

"Not Demeter, she doesn't really care" put in quickly Percy.

"I said nearly" she rolled her eyes. "But yeah, it would be everyone besides Demeter. Plus Hades."

"And how many is on your side?"

"If I knew" he shrugged.

The Romans seemed to have mixed feelings about it.

**But you have much to learn. When Dionysus was made a god, I gave up my throne for him. It was the only way to avoid a civil war among the gods."**

**"It unbalanced the Council," I remembered. "Suddenly there were seven guys and five girls."**

**Hestia shrugged. "It was the best solution, not a perfect one. Now I tend the fire. I fade slowly into the background. No one will ever write epic poems about the deeds of Hestia. Most demigods don't even stop to talk to me. But that is no matter.**

"That's just sad" frowned Piper.

**I keep the peace. I yield when necessary. Can you do this?"**

**"I don't know what you mean."**

**She studied me. "Perhaps not yet. But soon. Will you continue your quest?"**

**"Is that why you're here—to warn me against going?"**

**Hestia shook her head. "I am here because when all else fails, when all the other mighty gods have gone off to war, I am all that's left. Home. Hearth. I am the last Olympian. You must remember me when you face your final decision.**

"What final decision?"

"Leo, later!"

**I didn't like the way she said final.**

**I looked at Nico, then back at Hestia's warm glowing eyes. "I have to continue, my lady. I have to stop Luke . . . I mean Kronos."**

**Hestia nodded. "Very well. I cannot be of much assistance, beyond what I have already told you. But since you sacrificed to me, I can return you to your own hearth. I will see you again, Percy, on Olympus."**

**Her tone was ominous, as though our next meeting would not be happy.**

"It wasn't."

"That's cheering."

**The goddess waved her hand, and everything faded.**

**Suddenly I was home. Nico and I were sitting on the couch in my mom's apartment on the Upper East Side. That was the good news. The bad news was that the rest of the living room was occupied by Mrs. O'Leary.**

Most of the Mercury kids laughed.

**I heard a muffled yell from the bedroom. Paul's voice said, "Who put this wall of fur in the doorway?"**

Nearly everyone bursted out laughing at this.

**"Percy?" my mom called out. "Are you here? Are you all right?"**

**"I'm here!" I shouted back.**

**"WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary tried to turn in a circle to find my mom, knocking all the pictures off the walls. She's only met my mom once before (long story), but she loves her.**

"Aww" laughed Hazel.

**It took a few minutes, but we finally got things worked out. After destroying most of the furniture in the living room and probably making our neighbors really mad, we got my parents out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where we sat around the kitchen table. Mrs. O'Leary still took up the entire living room, but she'd settled her head in the kitchen doorway so she could see us, which made her happy. **

"Oh gods, that's so cute!" whispered a daughter of Venus.

**My mom tossed her a ten-pound family-size tube of ground beef, which disappeared down her gullet. Paul poured lemonade for the rest of us while I explained about our visit to Connecticut.**

**"So it's true." Paul stared at me like he'd never seen me before. He was wearing his white bathrobe, now covered in hellhound fur, and his salt-and-pepper hair was sticking up in every direction. "All the talk about monsters, and being a demigod . . . it's really true."**

"Ow, he didn't really know?" winced Frank.

"Nope" laughed Percy. "He was completely new."

**I nodded. Last fall I'd explained to Paul who I was. My mom had backed me up. But until this moment, I don't think he really believed us.**

**"Sorry about Mrs. O'Leary," I said, "destroying the living room and all."**

**Paul laughed like he was delighted. "Are you kidding? This is awesome! I mean, when I saw the hoofprints on the Prius, I thought maybe. But this!"**

"He's your step-father?" grinned Frank.

"Yeah."

"He's awesome" exclaimed Leo.

"Tell me about it."

**He patted Mrs. O'Leary's snout. The living room shook—BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs. O'Leary was wagging her tail.**

Everyone laughed.

**I couldn't help but smile. Paul was a pretty cool guy, even if he was my English teacher as well as my stepdad.**

"I wish I had teachers like that" sighed Piper.

**"Thanks for not freaking out," I said.**

**"Oh, I'm freaking out," he promised, his eyes wide. "I just think it's awesome!"**

"I'd like to meet him" snorted Jason.

**"Yeah, well," I said, "you may not be so excited when you hear what's happening."**

**I told Paul and my mom about Typhon, and the gods, and the battle that was sure to come. Then I told them Nico's plan.**

Leo looked like he wanted to bang his head against a wall (and he wasn't the only one), but this time didn't ask about the plan, thank the gods.

**My mom laced her fingers around her lemonade glass. She was wearing her old blue flannel bathrobe, and her hair was tied back. Recently she'd started writing a novel, like she'd wanted to do for years, and I could tell she'd been working on it late into the night, because the circles under her eyes were darker than usual.**

**Behind her at the kitchen window, silvery moon lace glowed in the flower box. I'd brought the magical plant back from Calypso's island last summer,**

Annabeth just raised an eyebrow at him.

"You've been to Calypso's island?" said a Roman guy.

He shrugged.

"As Annabeth just read…"

**and it bloomed like crazy under my mother's care.**

**The scent always calmed me down, but it also made me sad because it reminded me of lost friends.**

"Friends?" scoffed other Roman guy. "The legendary Calypso, a _friend_."

"Yes."

He once again ignored the looks, though if you looked hard enough, you could notice some looks of appreciation on girls' faces. And disbelieve, but who cares.

**My mom took a deep breath, like she was thinking how to tell me no.**

**"Percy, it's dangerous," she said. "Even for you."**

"And he has a different scale" put in Annabeth.

**"Mom, I know. I could die. Nico explained that. But if we don't try—"**

"Oh, yeah, that's totally going to work on her."

**"We'll all die," Nico said. **

"Oh, here is real Nico" snickered a Mars kid.

**He hadn't touched his lemonade. "Ms. Jackson, we don't stand a chance against an invasion. And there will be an invasion."**

**"An invasion of New York?" Paul said. "Is that even possible? How could we not see the . . . the monsters?"**

**He said the word like he still couldn't believe this was real.**

**"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't see how Kronos could just march into Manhattan, but the Mist is strong. Typhon is trampling across the country right now, and mortals think he's a storm system."**

**"Ms. Jackson," Nico said, "Percy needs your blessing. The process has to start that way. I wasn't sure until we met Luke's mom, but now I'm positive. This has only been done successfully twice before. Both times, the mother had to give her blessing. She had to be willing to let her son take the risk."**

"Okay, that sounds damn dangerous" Reyna glanced at Percy.

"It is" he ensured her.

**"You want me to bless this?" She shook her head. "It's crazy. Percy, please—"**

**"Mom, I can't do it without you."**

**"And if you survive this . . . this process?"**

**"Then I go to war," I said. "Me against Kronos. And only one of us will survive."**

"Wha – "

"Just listen."

**I didn't tell her the whole prophecy—about the soul reaping and the end of my days. She didn't need to know that I was probably doomed. I could only hope I'd stop Kronos and save the rest of the world before I died.**

Annabeth paused, like she knew they needed a while to absorb the information.

"Well, we know you got out of it alive, at least" said finally Leo.

"We'll talk about it later?" proposed again Percy, before anyone said something more.

**"You're my son," she said miserably. "I can't just . . ."**

**I could tell I'd have to push her harder if I wanted her to agree, but I didn't want to. I remembered poor Ms. Castellan in her kitchen, waiting for her son to come home. And I realized how lucky I was. My mom had always been there for me, always tried to make things normal for me, even with the gods and monsters and stuff. She put up with me going off on adventures, but now I was asking her blessing to do something that would probably get me killed.**

Pity appeared on more than one face.

**I locked eyes with Paul, and some kind of understanding passed between us.**

**"Sally." He put his hand over my mother's hands. "I can't claim to know what you and Percy have**

**been going through all these years. But it sounds to me . . . it sounds like Percy is doing something noble. I wish I had that much courage."**

Annabeth smiled whilst reading it.

**I got a lump in my throat. I didn't get compliments like that too much.**

"Well, you should" she said matter-of-factly.

**My mom stared at her lemonade. She looked like she was trying not to cry. I thought about what Hestia had said, about how hard it was to yield, and I figured maybe my mom was finding that out.**

**"Percy," she said, "I give you my blessing."**

**I didn't feel any different. No magic glow lit the kitchen or anything.**

**I glanced at Nico.**

**He looked more anxious than ever, but he nodded. "It's time."**

"That sounds so dramatic."

"It is."

"Shush!"

**"Percy," my mom said. "One last thing. If you . . . if you survive this fight with Kronos, send me a sign." She rummaged through her purse and handed me her cell phone.**

**"Mom," I said, "you know demigods and phones—"**

**"I know," she said. "But just in case. If you're not able to call . . . maybe a sign that I could see from anywhere in Manhattan. To let me know you're okay."**

**"Like Theseus," Paul suggested. "He was supposed to raise white sails when he came home to Athens."**

**"Except he forgot," Nico muttered. "And his father jumped off the palace roof in despair. But other than that, it was a great idea."**

A few people snickered, Percy the loudest of them all.

**"What about a flag or a flare?" my mom said. "From Olympus—the Empire State Building."**

**"Something blue," I said.**

**We'd had a running joke for years about blue food. It was my favorite color, and my mom went out of her way to humor me. Every year my birthday cake, my Easter basket, my Christmas candy canes always had to be blue.**

"Oh, now I get the blue food!" said Hazel pleased.

**"Yes," my mom agreed. "I'll watch for a blue signal. And I'll try to avoid jumping off palace roofs."**

**She gave me one last hug. I tried not to feel like I was saying good-bye. I shook hands with Paul.**

**Then Nico and I walked to the kitchen doorway and looked at Mrs. O'Leary.**

**"Sorry, girl," I said. "Shadow travel time again."**

**She whimpered and crossed her paws over her snout.**

Venus girls cooed again.

**"Where now?" I asked Nico. "Los Angeles?"**

**"No need," he said. "There's a closer entrance to the Underworld."**

"Underworld?" repeated Piper terrified.

"That's the end" Annabeth closed the book.

"Excellent" Reyna crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her armchair. "Now I'll gladly listen to what you have to say."

Percy and Annabeth shared a look.

"Soo…"

"Well, Percy?" Praetor Ramirez-Arellano looked at him expectantly.

"Maybe Annabeth should start" he said quickly, patting his girlfriend's shoulder.

She slowly turned to him.

"_Bad move_" coughed Leo.

"I have amnesia and all" said Percy hesitantly.

"Bullshit" Annabeth shook her head. "But fine. So, that summer Kronos was already in Luke's body. Luke was…"

Percy leaned back in his seat, sighing deeply. Story time, yay. He couldn't wait for the climax.

* * *

**Hi again! It's the same day...**

**I am a weak, weak mind. I was supposed to update every two weeks... but, oh come on! For your lovely reviews, you have that one waaay quicker! But it's only one time thing, okay? The temptation is just too big when I have the chapter already written. I only hope I didn't disappoint you. **

**Just so you know, there aren't that many comments, because I figured they'd be all still unsure and confused, but with time, they get more talkative. **

**And I repeat, any suggestion or criticism is good! If you see any errors, do tell, too (hey, AncientTide, I see you and thank you), because I write a lot just from memory and English is my second language (and I'm seventeen, so I still learn), therefore there is a high possibility I mess up. Sorry!**

**That's it, folks, review please, it really motivates me :)**

**Ronnie's out (again) (and this time _really_)**


	3. 2 MY MATH TEACHER GIVES ME A LIFT

For a long, long while, the forum was filled with absolute silence. Percy's last words seemed to still ring in the air and everyone were scared to even breath. They just stared. Unblinkingly (and freakishly so), many with their jaws hanging. It was hard to tell what they thought about Percy and Annabeth's half an hour long story, as shock was the only emotion written on their faces.

Not that he blamed them – the Romans were sure they won a war and saved the world. That they are absolute heroes and Greeks could only kiss their feet, or so they thought. Now, Percy kind of burst their bubble.

"That can't be true" hissed Octavian, breaking heavy silence.

"And here we go again" muttered Percy.

"That's – that's – "

"Hard to believe" Reyna agreed with him for once. "But in this case also probable."

Not every Roman seemed to share her opinion, though. Everyone seemed to break out of the trance and some had frowned, other looked in awe.

(Percy noticed, after watching them for some time, their views were split in nearly everything, and yet they managed to always cooperate easily.)

"That's unbelievable!" cried Octavian and received many nods. "Impossible!"

"But it would match what we've read already" noted Reyna, also getting murmurs of agreement.

"They could think it up on the spot."

"Keep reading, then, to see if the rest matches our version" said furiously Annabeth, a strand of hair falling in her stormy eyes.

A hand slipped around her waist and she raised her eyes to Percy's.

"Chill" he leaned down, brushing blond hair behind her ear. "He's always like that. Don't bother."

"I've known him for a few hours and I'm on the edge of killing him" she clenched her teeth.

"Tell me about it," he laughed silently.

The truth was, if not for Octavian, everything would go so much smoother, with fewer problems.

"Exactly" Reyna raised her chin, daring Octavian to fight her. "They explained where they are, when it's happening and what happened before."

"Kind of," muttered Percy.

"I don't believe there won't be any mentions of their preparations for… war with Saturn" it still came to her with difficulty to admit they could've done just as much to end the war as they did, if not more.

"So, we reading again?" said Dakota.

"Who's reading now?" Annabeth held up the book.

Everyone looked around, silently asking each other "_You?_".

"I will," said finally Reyna, when no one else volunteered.

She opened where Annabeth stuck a paper. She took it out, reading briefly, before raising an eyebrow at the daughter of Athena.

The blonde-haired girl motioned with her head at Percy.

"**MY MATH TEACHER GIVES ME A LIFT**"

"You have weird chapter titles, Percy," snorted Piper.

"**We emerged in Central Park just north of the Pond. Mrs. O'Leary looked pretty tired as she limped over to a cluster of boulders. She started sniffing around, and I was afraid she might mark her territory,**

A couple of snickers.

**but Nico said, "It's okay. She just smells the way home."**

**I frowned. "Through the rocks?"**

**"The Underworld has two major entrances,"**

"Really?" said Jason surprised.

The revelation caused some stir in the crowd.

**Nico said. "You know the one in L.A."**

**"Charon's ferry."**

**Nico nodded. "Most souls go that way, but there's a smaller path, harder to find. The Door of Orpheus."**

"Huh?"

**"The dude with the harp."**

"The lyre" corrected a few demigods, while the others rolled their eyes or snorted amusedly.

**"Dude with the lyre," Nico corrected. "But yeah, him. He used his music to charm the earth and open a new path into the Underworld.**

Leo whistled in approval.

**He sang his way right into Hades's palace and almost got away with his wife's soul."**

**I remembered the story. Orpheus wasn't supposed to look behind him when he was leading his wife back to the world, but of course he did. It was one of those typical "and-so-they-died/the-end" stories that always made us feel warm and fuzzy.**

Chuckles and laughter rolled through the forum.

**"So this is the Door of Orpheus." I tried to be impressed, but it still looked like a pile of rocks to me.**

Reyna's voice shook a little with amusement as she read that, but the others couldn't resist and laughed.

**"How does it open?"**

**"We need music," Nico said. "How's your singing?"**

"Oh, I already like this chapter" laughed Leo.

**"Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all."**

**"It's not so easy. We need music."**

**I was pretty sure if I tried to sing, all I would cause was an avalanche.**

The Praetor had to pause for a second, as the crowd got a bit too loud.

"Percy, you're hilarious," laughed Frank.

"Nice to look in your head," smirked Annabeth, nudging him.

**"I have a better idea." I turned and called, "GROVER!"**

"Weren't you there alone?" Hazel looked at him confused.

"I don't think we skipped anything," agreed Piper.

"And who's Grover?" said Jason.

"The satyr from the story."

Understanding entered on many confused faces.

**We waited for a long time. Mrs. O'Leary curled up and took a nap. I could hear the crickets in the woods and an owl hooting. Traffic hummed along Central Park West. Horse hooves clopped down a nearby path, maybe a mounted police patrol. I was sure they'd love to find two kids hanging out in the park at one in the morning.**

"I'm sure," snorted Leo.

**"It's no good," Nico said at last.**

**But I had a feeling. My empathy link **

"Your what?" Leo held his hand out to his ear, as though motioning Reyna to repeat herself.

"My empathy link with a satyr," said Percy.

"A faun said something about it once!" remembered Frank.

"Yeah, but it's muffled now," he sighed.

He stared for a second nostalgically in the space. Oh, how he missed his other best friend.

**was really tingling for the first time in months, which either meant a whole lot of people had suddenly switched on the Nature Channel, or Grover was close.**

"Nature Channel?"

**I shut my eyes and concentrated. Grover.**

**I knew he was somewhere in the park. Why couldn't I sense his emotions? All I got was a faint hum in the base of my skull.**

"It's kind of like that now, too" Percy scrunched his nose. "Only even fainter."

**Grover, I thought more insistently.**

**Hmm-hmmmm, something said.**

**An image came into my head. I saw a giant elm tree deep in the woods, well off the main paths.**

**Gnarled roots laced the ground, making a kind of bed. Lying in it with his arms crossed and his eyes closed was a satyr. At first I couldn't be sure it was Grover. He was covered in twigs and leaves, like he'd been sleeping there a long time. The roots seemed to be shaping themselves around him, slowly pulling him into the earth.**

"That's not normal," said Annabeth upon hearing a few questions about it from the Romans.

**Grover, I said. Wake up.**

**Unnnh—zzzzz.**

**Dude, you're covered in dirt. Wake up!**

A few snorts.

**Sleepy, his mind murmured.**

**FOOD, I suggested. PANCAKES!**

Another couple of chuckles.

**His eyes shot open.**

And even more.

**A blur of thoughts filled my head like he was suddenly on fast-forward. The image shattered, and I almost fell over.**

**"What happened?" Nico asked.**

**"I got through. He's . . . yeah. He's on his way."**

**A minute later, the tree next to us shivered. Grover fell out of the branches, right on his head.**

"Oh, man, fauns – satyrs, whatever – are funny" laughed a Roman guy.

**"Grover!" I yelled.**

**"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary looked up, probably wondering if we were going to play fetch with the satyr.**

**"Blah-haa-haa!" Grover bleated.**

"That's informative."

**"You okay, man?"**

**"Oh, I'm fine." He rubbed his head. His horns had grown so much they poked an inch above his curly hair. "I was at the other end of the park. The dryads had this great idea of passing me through the trees to get me here. They don't understand height very well."**

Someone snorted so loudly out of a sudden; everyone paused and busted out laughing.

**He grinned and got to his feet—well, his hooves, actually. Since last summer, Grover had stopped trying to disguise himself as human. **

"Why would he do that?" said some young Roman girl.

"Satyrs are really helpful and cooperate with demigods and they often work amidst mortals, so they wear disguise around them, just in case," explained Annabeth with a pointed look at some Romans, who she saw pull a face at the mention of satyrs.

**He never wore a cap or fake feet anymore. He didn't even wear jeans, since he had furry goat legs from the waist down. His T-shirt had a picture from that book Where the Wild Things Are. It was covered with dirt and tree sap. His goatee looked fuller, almost manly (or goatly?),**

"That's not a word," Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly.

Percy just smiled sheepishly at the snickers around.

**and he was as tall as me now.**

**"Good to see you, G-man," I said. "You remember Nico."**

**Grover nodded at Nico, then he gave me a big hug. **

"So, you're like, close?" said Jason awkwardly.

"He's my best friend," grinned Percy. "Other than Annabeth, that is."

"Oh, friends?" she raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were past that stage?"

"Boyfriend or not, I'm still your best friend and it comes first," he shrugged.

That earned him squeals from Venus girls.

Piper felt somewhat stunned at this, staring at the couple. She has heard many stories about _the_ Percy Jackson at camp, but somehow she thought these words said more about him than they all did. She smiled at Annabeth, seeing her chilled out for the first time ever.

"You're right, for once, Seaweed Brain," she muttered to him.

**He smelled like fresh-mown lawns.**

**"Perrrrcy!" he bleated. "I missed you! I miss camp. They don't serve very good enchiladas in the wilderness."**

Everyone laughed, but Percy felt a pang of pain in heart.

"I miss him," he whispered to Annabeth.

"He does, too."

**"I was worried," I said. "Where've you been the last two months?"**

**"The last two—" Grover's smile faded. "The last two months? What are you talking about?"**

"Poor Grover," sighed Hazel.

**"We haven't heard from you," I said. "Juniper's worried. **

"Juniper?"

"His girlfriend. A tree nymph."

"The differences between Greeks and Roman never cease to amaze me," said Reyna in wonder.

**We sent Iris-messages, but—"**

"Iris-messages?" interrupted… well, a lot of people actually. Romans looked clueless.

"It's our way of communicating. I mean – it's gods' way of communicating, really, but if goddess Iris isn't too busy, she may help us, demigods, too. You have to create a rainbow and throw a golden drachma in it. You ask her for accepting your offering and say name and location of the person you want to contact, so they appear in the rainbow," explained Annabeth.

"Whoa" muttered Roman guy.

"Cool, isn't it?" grinned Percy.

Many nodded in agreement and slight jealousy.

**"Hold on." He looked up at the stars like he was trying to calculate his position. "What month is this?"**

**"August."**

**The color drained from his face. "That's impossible. It's June. I just lay down to take a nap and . . ." He grabbed my arms. "I remember now! He knocked me out. Percy, we have to stop him!"**

"Stop who?"

**"Whoa," I said. "Slow down. Tell me what happened."**

**He took a deep breath. "I was . . . I was walking in the woods up by Harlem Meer. And I felt this tremble in the ground, like something powerful was near."**

**"You can sense stuff like that?" Nico asked.**

**Grover nodded. "Since Pan's death, I can feel when something is wrong in nature. It's like my ears and eyes are sharper when I'm in the Wild. Anyway, I started following the scent. This man in a long black coat was walking through the park, and I noticed he didn't cast a shadow. Middle of a sunny day, and he cast no shadow. He kind of shimmered as he moved."**

"Bad, bad omens" moaned Piper just as Leo said "Run!".

**"Like a mirage?" Nico asked.**

**"Yes," Grover said. "And whenever he passed humans—"**

**"The humans would pass out," Nico said. "Curl up and go to sleep."**

Romans raised their eyebrows.

**"That's right! Then after he was gone, they'd get up and go about their business like nothing happened."**

**I stared at Nico. "You know this guy in black?"**

**"Afraid so," **

"He has weird friends."

"His friends are alright, thank you very much" Percy glared at the Roman for the second time and he shrunk in his seat.

**Nico said. "Grover, what happened?"**

**"I followed the guy. He kept looking up at the buildings around the park like he was making estimates or something. This lady jogger ran by, and she curled up on the sidewalk and started snoring.**

"Oh dear" sighed Reyna. "I think I know what it is."

**The guy in black put his hand on her forehead like he was checking her temperature. Then he kept walking. By this time, I knew he was a monster or something even worse. I followed him into this grove, to the base of a big elm tree.**

"That's one brave satyr," noticed Jason.

"Course he is," grinned Percy.

**I was about to summon some dryads to help me capture him when he turned and . . ." Grover swallowed. "Percy, his face. I couldn't make out his face because it kept shifting. Just looking at him made me sleepy. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Just having a look around. You should always scout a battlefield before the battle.'**

"The battle…" frowned Piper.

"Of Manhattan. Somnia will be there," said Reyna.

"Or rather Morpheus" corrected Annabeth.

"You're so screwed," said Dakota.

These, who had not figured out Morpheus already, gasped or winced in sympathy.

**I said something really smart like, 'This forest is under my protection. You won't start any battles here!' And he laughed. He said, 'You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event, little satyr. I'll just grant you a short nap. Pleasant dreams.' And that's the last thing I remember."**

"No wonder he slept so long" breathed Hazel.

**Nico exhaled. "Grover, you met Morpheus, the God of Dreams. You're lucky you ever woke up."**

**"Two months," Grover moaned. "He put me to sleep for two months!"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what this meant. Now it made sense why we hadn't been able to contact Grover all this time.**

**"Why didn't the nymphs try to wake you?" I asked.**

**Grover shrugged. "Most nymphs aren't good with time. Two months for a tree—that's nothing. They probably didn't think anything was wrong."**

"That's so weird," a Roman girl raised her eyebrows.

**"We've got to figure out what Morpheus was doing in the park," I said. "I don't like this 'main event' thing he mentioned."**

"Me neither."

**"He's working for Kronos," Nico said. "We know that already. A lot of the minor gods are. This just proves there's going to be an invasion. Percy, we have to get on with our plan."**

**"Wait," Grover said. "What plan?"**

"Good question."

**We told him, and Grover started tugging at his leg fur.**

**"You're not serious," he said. "Not the Underworld again."**

"_Again_?"

"I thought you told us everything" Reyna narrowed her eyes at him.

"Everything?" he laughed disbelievingly. "Nah, just the most important happenings of the last month before the book or so. Everything would take much, much longer."

"Really" said Octavian dryly.

"We'll have time after the meal," said Reyna, giving him a look meaning he will not get out of it.

"If you have time…"

"We have a lot of time," reminded him Jason.

**"I'm not asking you to come, man," I promised. "I know you just woke up. But we need some music to open the door. Can you do it?"**

**Grover took out his reed pipes. "I guess I could try. I know a few Nirvana tunes that can split rocks.**

Some chuckled, but mostly everyone was surprised to hear it from a satyr.

**But, Percy, are you sure you want to do this?"**

"Do _what_?"

"Patience is a virtue, Leo."

**"Please, man," I said. "It would mean a lot. For old times' sake?"**

**He whimpered. "As I recall, in the old times we almost died a lot.**

"I really need to hear about it."

**But okay, here goes nothing."**

**He put his pipes to his lips and played a shrill, lively tune. The boulders trembled. A few more stanzas, and they cracked open, revealing a triangular crevice.**

**I peered inside. Steps led down into the darkness. The air smelled of mildew and death. It brought back bad memories of my trip through the Labyrinth last year,**

"What labyrinth?"

"_The_ Labyrinth?"

"Later, guys."

**but this tunnel felt even more dangerous. It led straight to the land of Hades, and that was almost always a one-way trip.**

"Almost" he winked at Annabeth.

**I turned to Grover. "Thanks . . . I think."**

**"Perrrrcy, is Kronos really going to invade?"**

**"I wish I could tell you better, but yeah. He will."**

**I thought Grover might chew up his reed pipes in anxiety, but he straightened up and brushed off his T-shirt. I couldn't help thinking how different he looked from fat old Leneus. "I've got to rally the nature spirits, then. Maybe we can help. I'll see if we can find this Morpheus.'"**

"Really brave satyr," said Reyna, somewhat impressed.

**"Better tell Juniper you're okay, too."**

**His eyes widened. "Juniper! Oh, she's going to kill me!"**

Guys laughed understandingly.

**He started to run off, then scrambled back and gave me another hug. "Be careful down there! Come back alive!"**

"Aww."

Who knew, maybe they should have taken the Aphrodite cabin; they'd get along with Venus' children greatly.

**Once he was gone, Nico and I roused Mrs. O'Leary from her nap.**

**When she smelled the tunnel, she got excited and led the way down the steps. It was a pretty tight fit.**

**I hoped she wouldn't get stuck. I couldn't imagine how much Drano we'd need to un-stick a hellhound wedged halfway down a tunnel to the Underworld.**

Demigods laughed at the mental image.

**"Ready?" Nico asked me. "It'll be fine. Don't worry."**

**He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.**

"He sounds like such a normal person here," whispered a Roman girl to her friends.

They nodded in wonder.

**I glanced up at the stars, wondering if I would ever see them again. **

"Ouch" muttered Leo.

**Then we plunged into darkness.**

**The stairs went on forever—narrow, steep, and slippery. It was completely dark except for the light of my sword.**

"You have a cool sword."

"I know… I mean – thanks."

**I tried to go slow, but Mrs. O'Leary had other ideas. She bounded ahead, barking happily. The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots, and I figured we would not be catching anybody by surprise once we reached the bottom.**

Some looked back at the hellhound fondly, already used to her presence.

**Nico lagged behind, which I thought was strange.**

**"You okay?" I asked him.**

**"Fine." What was that expression on his face . . . doubt? "Just keep moving," he said.**

"Have you ever seen him as anything else than dark and quiet?" asked a Roman girl in general.

Percy raised an eyebrow coolly, but she didn't seem mean about it. Looking at her, he noted she commented quite a lot, thought he didn't register any nasty remarks from her.

These who heard her answered in unison negatively.

"Okay, just checking."

**I didn't have much choice. I followed Mrs. O'Leary into the depths. After another hour, I started to hear the roar of a river.**

**We emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To our right, the River Styx**

"Oh!"

Obviously, some demigods caught on.

**gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids. To our left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of Erebos, the great black walls of Hades's kingdom.**

**I shuddered. I'd first been here when I was twelve,**

"Twelve?" repeated herself Reyna. "Who let you go there at twelve?"

"That was on my first quest," he stared at his shoes. "I didn't have much choice. And they didn't either. I'll explain later," he added at the confused looks.

**and only Annabeth and Grover's company had given me the courage to keep going. Nico wasn't going to be quite as helpful with the "courage" thing.**

Percy winced, going with his gaze toward the shadows. He couldn't see Nico, who blended in disturbingly well, but he mouthed 'sorry' anyways.

**He looked pale and worried himself.**

"Nico pale and worried?" said shocked Roman guy, and he also recognized that one. He didn't remember the guy's comments as positively as the girl's and Percy clenched his hands in fists.

"I mean, he's always pale, but…"

**Only Mrs. O'Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, **

Demigods' expressions were speaking for itself.

**and romped back toward me.**

And now their faces got a little green.

**She dropped the bone at my feet and waited for me to throw it.**

"Oh my gods," moaned Dakota.

**"Um, maybe later, girl." I stared at the dark waters, trying to get up my nerve. "So, Nico . . . how do we do this?"**

"You are mad," stated Reyna.

"What, you see this now?" said Annabeth in surprise.

By now everyone guessed "the plan" (well, not exactly _everyone_, per see, but these who didn't were informed by others) and had astonish and disbelieve written all over their faces. More than one jaw was hanging.

**"We have to go inside the gates first," he said.**

**"But the river's right here."**

**"I have to get something," he said. "It's the only way."**

"That's suspicious…"

**He marched off without waiting.**

"And that's even more."

**I frowned. Nico hadn't mentioned anything about going inside the gates. But now that we were here, I didn't know what else to do. Reluctantly, I followed him down the beach toward the big black gates.**

**Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in.**

Teenagers shivered and flinched.

**It must've been a heavy day for funerals, because**

**even the EZ-DEATH line was backed up.**

"EZ-DEATCH?" repeated Piper.

**"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary said. Before I could stop her she bounded toward the security checkpoint.**

**Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades, appeared out of the gloom—a three-headed rottweiler so big he made Mrs. O'Leary look like a toy poodle. **

"Not good" moaned the talkative Roman girl.

"Not good at all" someone agreed with her.

"You sure?" Percy smirked. Demigods turned to him questioningly, but he didn't say more.

**Cerberus was half transparent, so he's really hard to see until he's close enough to kill you, **

"_Eeek_!"

A few snickered at somebody's emotional reaction.

**but he acted like he didn't care about us. He was too busy saying hello to Mrs. O'Leary.**

**"Mrs. O'Leary, no!" I shouted at her. "Don't sniff . . . Oh, man."**

"Oooh!" laughed Leo. "Sparks fly in the air, eh?"

Everyone laughed with him, figuring why Percy was chill about Cerberus.

**Nico smiled. **

Instantly Romans got this weird faces, as usually when Nico did something 'normal' in the book.

**Then he looked at me and his expression turned all serious again, like he'd remembered something unpleasant. **

A frown appeared on Percy's face. He really hoped Nico wasn't looking at him right now, because he was pretty sure he could've read through his expression.

**"Come on. They won't give us any trouble in the line. You're with me."**

"Like a boss" said Percy quietly, swinging mockingly in his seat and demigods around him chuckled.

**I didn't like it, but we slipped through the security ghouls and into the Fields of Asphodel. I had to whistle for Mrs. O'Leary three times before she left Cerberus**

A few guys whistled jokingly and everyone laughed.

**alone and ran after us.**

**We hiked over black fields of grass dotted with black poplar trees. If I really died in a few days like the prophecy said, I might end up here forever, but I tried not to think about that.**

And the good mood fell flat.

Percy noticed people got more and more involved in the story, like in a good movie, and with barely suppressed snicker, he saw a few demigods give him a look, as if making sure he was still there, still alive.

**Nico trudged ahead, bringing us closer and closer to the palace of Hades.**

"Wait, why there?" worried Hazel, wondering what possibly her brother could think up.

She looked up at Percy for an answer, but she got just a reassuring smile in response.

**"Hey," I said, "we're inside the gates already. Where are we—"**

**Mrs. O'Leary growled. A shadow appeared overhead—something dark, cold, and stinking of death.**

"Charming" commented Leo. "I have a feeling that will be the love of my life."

Jason, Frank and a few others slowly looked at him, whilst Piper and Percy snorted loudly.

"What if it's a man?" said Annabeth logically.

"True love doesn't know age or gender!" he threw a hand over his heart dramatically.

"You have something to gays?" called Roman girl from the back.

Annabeth blinked at her in surprise.

"No. I just know that Leo likes girls."

She didn't receive any response and she turned to share a look with her boyfriend. Slightly awkward pause ensued, so Reyna picked up the book.

**It swooped down and landed in the top of a poplar tree.**

**Unfortunately, I recognized her. **

"It's a her!" Leo pointed out triumphantly.

**She had a shriveled face, a horrible blue knit hat, and a crumpled velvet dress. Leathery bat wings sprang from her back. Her feet had sharp talons, and in her brass-clawed hands she held a flaming whip and a paisley handbag.**

At the end of description, everyone barely hold back their laughter.

"She sounds charming, Leo, my best wishes" said Piper, her voice shaking slightly, though she kept poker face.

"Can't wait for the children," added seriously Percy. Not even an eye twitch gave him away.

"Can't wait to meet her," Leo said weakly.

**"Mrs. Dodds," I said.**

"Should I ask or…"

**She bared her fangs. "Welcome back, honey."**

**Her two sisters—the other Furies—**

"A Fury named Mrs. Dodds?"

"Hey, that was her idea!"

**swooped down and settled next to her in the branches of the poplar.**

**"You know Alecto?" Nico asked me.**

"So, Mrs. Dodds or Alecto?"

Leo's friends rolled their eyes at him.

**"If you mean the hag in the middle, yeah," I said. "She was my math teacher."**

Reyna turned to Percy resigned.

"…math teacher?"

"Long story" he grinned cheekily.

**Nico nodded, like this didn't surprise him. He looked up at the Furies and took a deep breath. "I've done what my father asked. Take us to the palace."**

Suddenly everyone tensed.

**I tensed. "Wait a second, Nico. What do you—"**

**"I'm afraid this is my new lead, Percy. My father promised me information about my family, but he wants to see you before we try the river. I'm sorry."**

"Nico" whispered horrified Hazel.

"That little…" muttered Reyna. "I should've known…"

"I knew it!" and "Traitor" went all around the place. Percy stared at the shadow in worry, this time not trying to hide it and hoping Nico wouldn't run away now.

"Hey!" he said, going back with his eyes to the crowd. "Leave him be, he was just twelve then. It doesn't matter now."

"Doesn't matter?" Jason looked at him like he was mad.

"Guys, leave it. Really. It'll be okay."

He felt bad about it all. Well, he didn't ask to read it, but still. These were his memories. Moreover, upon noticing distrusting looks thrown Hazel's way, he felt even worse.

**"You tricked me?" I was so mad I couldn't think.**

Reyna raised an eyebrow at him, as though asking "doesn't matter, now?".

**I lunged at him, but the Furies were fast. Two of them swooped down and plucked me up by the arms. My sword fell out of my hand, and before I knew it, I was dangling sixty feet in the air.**

**"Oh, don't struggle, honey," my old math teacher cackled in my ear.**

"The 'math teacher' comment makes it even more horrible" shuddered Leo.

**"I'd hate to drop you."**

**Mrs. O'Leary barked angrily and jumped, trying to reach me, but we were too high.**

**"Tell Mrs. O'Leary to behave," Nico warned. He was hovering near me in the clutches of the third Fury. "I don't want her to get hurt, Percy.**

"Why does he care?" sneered someone in the back.

**My father is waiting. He just wants to talk."**

**I wanted to tell Mrs. O'Leary to attack Nico, but it wouldn't have done any good, and Nico was right about one thing: my dog could get hurt if she tried to pick a fight with the Furies.**

**I gritted my teeth. "Mrs. O'Leary, down! It's okay, girl."**

**She whimpered and turned in circles, looking up at me.**

"Awww" cooed Venus children, this time in a sad tune.

**"All right, traitor," I growled at Nico. "You've got your prize. Take me to the stupid palace."**

**Alecto dropped me like a sack of turnips in the middle of the palace garden.**

**It was beautiful in a creepy way. Skeletal white trees grew from marble basins. Flower beds overflowed with golden plants and gemstones. A pair of thrones, one bone and one silver, sat on the balcony with a view of the Fields of Asphodel. It would've been a nice place to spend a Saturday morning except for the sulfurous smell and the cries of tortured souls in the distance.**

"That kind of spoils the mood," agreed Frank.

**Skeletal warriors guarded the only exit. They wore tattered U.S. Army desert combat fatigues and**

**carried M16s.**

**The third Fury deposited Nico next to me. Then all three of them settled on the top of the skeletal throne. I resisted the urge to strangle Nico. They'd only stop me. I'd have to wait for my revenge.**

"Ouch" Annabeth eyed her boyfriend curiously.

**I stared at the empty thrones, waiting for something to happen. Then the air shimmered. Three figures appeared—**

"Three?"

**Hades and Persephone on their thrones, and an older woman standing between them. They seemed to be in the middle of an argument.**

**"—told you he was a bum!" the older woman said.**

**"Mother!" Persephone replied.**

**"We have visitors!" Hades barked. "Please!"**

"These are the gods…?"

Romans looked up to Percy, as if waiting for him to call a bluff.

"Yep."

**Hades, one of my least favorite gods,**

"No offence" he said quickly to Hazel.

**smoothed his black robes, which were covered with the terrified faces of the damned. He had pale skin and the intense eyes of a madman.**

"Nice" mumbled faintly Dakota.

**"Percy Jackson," he said with satisfaction. "At last."**

**Queen Persephone studied me curiously. I'd seen her once before in the winter,**

"Explain?"

"Yeah" Annabeth eyed him curiously, as she couldn't recall meeting Persephone in the winter.* "Explain?"

"Later."

**but now in the summer she looked like a totally different goddess. She had lustrous black hair and warm brown eyes. Her dress shimmered with colors. Flower patterns in the fabric changed and bloomed—roses, tulips, honeysuckle.**

**The woman standing between them was obviously Persephone's mother. She had the same hair and eyes, but looked older and sterner. Her dress was golden, the color of a wheat field. Her hair was woven with dried grasses so it reminded me of a wicker basket. I figured if somebody lit a match next to her, she'd be in serious trouble.**

Children of Ceres glared at him, but others laughed.

**"Hmmph," the older woman said. "Demigods. Just what we need."**

"Thanks, mother…"

**Next to me, Nico knelt. I wished I had my sword so I could cut his stupid head off.**

Someone snorted, but when others turned to him, he flushed red and shrunk in his seat.

**Unfortunately, Riptide was still out in the fields somewhere.**

**"Father," Nico said. "I have done as you asked."**

**"Took you long enough," Hades grumbled. "Your sister would've done a better job."**

"Oh, that's nice" Piper muttered sarcastically.

"But why would Hazel do this better? Have you even known Percy then?" questioned a Roman girl.

"He – he didn't mean me."

Silence fell after that.

**Nico lowered his head. If I hadn't been so mad at the little creep, I might've felt sorry for him.**

**I glared up at the god of the dead. "What do you want, Hades?"**

"Do you have a death wish?!" exclaimed Jason.

"Oh, you just wait," snorted Annabeth.

**"To talk, of course." The god twisted his mouth in a cruel smile. "Didn't Nico tell you?"**

**"So this whole quest was a lie. Nico brought me down here to get me killed."**

**"Oh, no," Hades said. "I'm afraid Nico was quite sincere about wanting to help you. The boy is as honest as he is dense. I simply convinced him to take a small detour and bring you here first."**

Hazel looked deeply insulted by how her father acted. Frank grasped her hand and Percy nudged her, both looking with sympathy.

**"Father," Nico said, "you promised that Percy would not be harmed. You said if I brought him, you would tell me about my past—about my mother."**

**Queen Persephone sighed dramatically. "Can we please not talk about that woman in my presence?"**

**"I'm sorry, my dove," Hades said. "I had to promise the boy something."**

**The older lady harrumphed. "I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could've married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo. You had to eat the pomegranate."**

**"Mother—"**

**"And get stuck in the Underworld!"**

**"Mother, please—"**

**"And here it is August, and do you come home like you're supposed to? Do you ever think about your poor lonely mother?"**

**"DEMETER!" Hades shouted. "That is enough. You are a guest in my house."**

**"Oh, a house is it?" she said. "You call this dump a house? Make my daughter live in this dark,**

**damp—"**

**"I told you," Hades said, grinding his teeth, "there's a war in the world above. You and Persephone are better off here with me."**

**"Excuse me," I broke in. "But if you're going to kill me, could you just get on with it?"**

Groan rolled around the forum.

"Dude, how are you still alive?" said Leo. _Leo._ He still had little idea about the whole mythological world, and yet even he knew that was bad.

**All three gods looked at me.**

**"Well, this one has an attitude," Demeter observed.**

"She doesn't seem angry," noticed Reyna.

"Yeah, she's pretty chill to everyone but Hades" shrugged Percy.

**"Indeed," Hades agreed. "I'd love to kill him."**

Worry and gloom slid from Hazel's face, frown taking its place. She squeezed Frank's hand hard (he winced, but didn't dare to say anything) and she seemed to be seething.

Percy took one glimpse at her livid expression. Oh, he almost pitied Hades.

**"Father!" Nico said. "You promised!"**

**"Husband, we talked about this," Persephone chided. "You can't go around incinerating every hero. Besides, he's brave. I like that."**

"It seems Persephone likes you" smiled Piper.

**Hades rolled his eyes. "You liked that Orpheus fellow too. Look how well that turned out. Let me kill him, just a little bit."**

**"Father, you promised!" Nico said. "You said you only wanted to talk to him. You said if I brought him, you'd explain."**

**Hades glowered, smoothing the folds of his robes. "And so I shall. Your mother—what can I tell you? She was a wonderful woman." He glanced uncomfortably at Persephone. "Forgive me, my dear. I mean for a mortal, of course. Her name was Maria di Angelo. She was from Venice, but her father was a diplomat in Washington, D.C. That's where I met her. When you and your sister were young, it was a bad time to be children of Hades. World War II was brewing. A few of my, ah, other children were leading the losing side. I thought it best to put you two out of harm's way."**

Reyna took a deep breath, as though preparing to continue, but she put her palms on the book and stared up instead.

"He's not talking about you," she said to Hazel. It wasn't a question.

The younger girl shook her head.

"He has other sister, then? And… you, too, then, I suppose" a Roman added to Hazel, but she just bit her lip and shook her head again. "No…? But – "

"She's dead," Percy said quietly. "Keep reading, Reyna."

The Praetor had impassive face, but he knew the news made an impact on her.

**"That's why you hid us in the Lotus Casino?"**

**Hades shrugged. "You didn't age. You didn't realize time was passing. I waited for the right time to bring you out."**

**"But what happened to our mother? Why don't I remember her?"**

**"Not important," Hades snapped.**

**"What? Of course it's important. And you had other children—why were we the only ones who were sent away? And who was the lawyer who got us out?"**

**Hades grit his teeth. "You would do well to listen more and talk less, boy. As for the lawyer . . ."**

**Hades snapped his fingers. On top of his throne, the Fury Alecto began to change until she was a middle-aged man in a pinstriped suit with a briefcase. She—he—looked strange crouching at Hades's shoulder.**

Some snorted at the mental image.

**"You!" Nico said.**

**The Fury cackled. "I do lawyers and teachers very well!"**

**Nico was trembling. "But why did you free us from the casino?"**

**"You know why," Hades said. "This idiot son of Poseidon cannot be allowed to be the child of the prophecy."**

"So, he doesn't like you much, huh?"

"He got over it, I think. Or hope."

One would think so, after getting him and his children respect and a cabin at camp, after all.

**I plucked a ruby off the nearest plant and threw it at Hades.**

"_You don't throw stones at gods!_" said Reyna desperately.

"But what a stone it was! No stoney-stone, but a _ruby_" said Percy, nodding to himself.

Jason face-palmed.

**It sank harmlessly into his robe. "You should be helping Olympus!" I said. "All the other gods are fighting Typhon, and you're just sitting here—"**

"And now you're yelling at him" said Jason dully. "You're suicidal."

"You just wait" Annabeth repeated.

**"Waiting things out," Hades finished. "Yes, that's correct. When's the last time Olympus ever helped me, half-blood? When's the last time a child of mine was ever welcomed as a hero? Bah! Why should I rush out and help them? I'll stay here with my forces intact."**

**"And when Kronos comes after you?"**

**"Let him try. He'll be weakened. And my son here, Nico—" Hades looked at him with distaste. "Well, he's not much now, I'll grant you. It would've been better if Bianca had lived. But give him four more years of training. We can hold out that long, surely. Nico will turn sixteen, as the prophecy says, and then he will make the decision that will save the world. And I will be king of the gods."**

A couple of gasps were heard.

"Poor Nico" whispered Hazel.

**"You're crazy," I said. "Kronos will crush you, right after he finishes pulverizing Olympus."**

**Hades spread his hands. "Well, you'll get a chance to find out, half-blood. Because you'll be waiting out this war in my dungeons."**

**"No!" Nico said. "Father, that wasn't our agreement. And you haven't told me everything!"**

**"I've told you all you need to know," Hades said. "As for our agreement, I spoke with Jackson. I did not harm him. You got your information. If you had wanted a better deal, you should've made me swear on the Styx. Now, go to your room!" He waved his hand, and Nico vanished.**

"That – that – "

"I know!"

**"That boy needs to eat more," Demeter grumbled. "He's too skinny. He needs more cereal."**

"I like Demeter the best out of them" grumbled a Roman boy.

Many were shaking their heads and quietly, as to not disturb reading, expressing their not-so-nice feeling towards the god of the underworld.

**Persephone rolled her eyes. "Mother, enough with the cereal. My lord Hades, are you sure we can't let this little hero go? He's awfully brave."**

"I like Persephone, too" decided Piper.

**"No, my dear. I've spared his life. That's enough."**

"How generous of you" said Leo sarcastically.

**I was sure she was going to stand up for me. The brave, beautiful Persephone was going to get me out of this.**

**She shrugged indifferently. "Fine. What's for breakfast? I'm starving."**

"You know what, I don't like any of them much," said the talkative Roman girl.

Hum of agreement.

**"Cereal," Demeter said.**

**"Mother!" The two women disappeared in a swirl of flowers and wheat.**

Percy rolled his eyes, used to things like that by now.

**"Don't feel too bad, Percy Jackson," Hades said. "My ghosts keep me well informed of Kronos's plans. I can assure you that you had no chance to stop him in time. By tonight, it will be too late for your precious Mount Olympus. The trap will be sprung."**

"He knows this and does… nothing?"

"That's funny, you know," Percy said in Annabeth's ear. "How Romans are completely unaware of what the gods are like."

"They had very high expectations and… well, what we're reading doesn't really match up" she smiled softly.

**"What trap?" I demanded. "If you know about it, do something! **

"Yeah, do!" chanted someone.

**At least let me tell the other gods!"**

**Hades smiled. "You are spirited. I'll give you credit for that. Have fun in my dungeon. We'll check on you again in—oh, fifty or sixty years**."

"That's the end," said Reyna, marking the page with Annabeth's paper – or rather Percy's.

"You know… it's quite late," piped up the talkative Roman girl. Percy finally had to get to know her name. "Maybe… a meal? And then – the story" she eyed Percy. Upon noticing him looking at her, she rapidly turned back to Reyna.

After checking the time, Reyna nodded.

"Yes, that would be fine."

"But it's too early – "

"So, meal and after that Percy will tell us some more" she cut Percy off.

He raised his eyebrows amusedly.

"Eager, aren't they?" whispered to him Annabeth.

"So, let's eat!"

* * *

***Those who read _the Demigod Files_ know what it's about. But in case someone didn't, there was this story about Thalia, Nico and Percy having kind of a quest from Persephone in the Underworld and it refers to it.**

* * *

**Welcome again!**

**Thank you so, so much for every review. And if we're on about it... HEY, YOU! YES, YOU WHO'S NOT GOING TO LEAVE A WORD OF A COMMENT. PLEASE, DO! JUST A WORD WOULD BE ENOUGH, IT MAKES MY DAY. Okay, I feel desperate begging for reviews like that, but I guess sometimes it works (on me anyway). I'd _really_ appreciate simple "good", "nice" or even "awful", just for taking your time to inform me about your opinion.**

**Hope I didn't disappoint with that chapter (huh, what a great excuse to leave a review... just saying). Again, any suggestions, criticism and questions are very much welcomed. **

**That's it, I think. Have a good day... and the two weeks until you hear from me, too! :)**

**Ronn - *_flashes out too early_* *_my bad_***


	4. Percy can't sit down

"Reyna!"

Percy came up to Praetor Ramirez-Arellano, squeezing himself between the demigods rushing around unsure what they should do and where to go, which resulted in the crowd just wandering in circles, unhelpfully blocking Percy's path. Thankfully, the Praetor, always on full alert, caught her name in the omnipresent noise. She stopped and turned, waiting for him.

"You're not going to get out of this, if that's what you want," she said the second he had stopped in front of her.

He gave her his loop-sided smile.

"I figured. I just want to make sure you don't need help, cause I wanted to talk with Annabeth first and then with the rest from my camp. But if you need me for something, it can wait" he assured her quickly.

As usually with Reyna, it was nearly impossible to tell what was going through her head, but while she studied him with her careful eyes, he thought there was something akin to respect in them.

"No, you may go. Thank you for considering it, though" she said at least and nodded shortly.

He grinned at her, but needed no more encouragement from her. After all, she was Reyna – she wouldn't play with pleasantries just to be polite, but plainly say if there was something he could do. Therefore, a few minutes later found him with Annabeth, finally alone.

He gave her his signature, troublemaker smile, which she responded to with a smirk.

"So, you want to see New Rome?"

Romans, being Romans, quickly organized lunch on the forum with places for everyone to sit and eat. The longest took preparing food for so many people; part jumped to getting food done as they usually would, the others went to the city to steal some food from frozen families (don't judge, they have to eat something. Besides the terrifying sight of the people still as statues was enough price).

In the meantime, Percy and Annabeth made good use of their time alone.

Sadly, they knew they didn't have hours, so they agreed to meet at night. If it'll even come, that is. The time was frozen, thus they wouldn't see the night sky, most probably, but when everyone get tired, they'll call it a night. For now, the couple went back to the forum.

As they sat next to Reyna, Hazel, Frank and the Agro crew, no one commented on their flushed cheeks, swollen lips, tangled hair or slightly misplaced clothes. Although Piper and Hazel noticed their oddly bright eyes and, honestly, no one could miss how huge their smiles were.

Somehow, everyone felt better not to ask Annabeth about the impression of New Rome.

"What's up?" said Percy sliding on a seat. He gazed around the people and bumped Hazel's shoulder, upon seeing her next to him.

"Not much" she smiled.

"Tell me" he looked in turn at each Roman. "What do you know about that girl?"

Everyone turned to the girl he pointed to with his chin.

"Don't stare," said at the same time Annabeth and Reyna.

"I think it's Ramona?" said Frank unsurely, making it seem like a question.

"Indeed" nodded Reyna. "Fourth Cohort, daughter of Arcus – that's Iris for you. She's fifteen, I think, has been at camp for over a year. She was early claimed. Why do you ask?"

Percy noted many teenagers glanced at his girlfriend.

"She seems nice" he shrugged. "Just curious. I'll be back in a sec."

Everyone observed him as he stood up (geez, he'd been sitting for _soo_ long). Instead of going to Ramona, like they expected him to, he went through the whole forum… straight into the sparse woods on the forum's side. Frank and Hazel shared curious and surprised look, Reyna raised an eyebrow, the trio stared after him confusedly, then turned to the others, and Annabeth only observed him mildly interested.

"Did he go… to the woods?" said Piper at least.

"Yep" said Frank.

"Whatever for?" Leo scratched his head, looking closely at the woods, as though expecting to suddenly find there a hidden water park.

"Who knows with him" shrugged Annabeth, standing up. "But if he's about to get into troubles, I'd better be with him" she smiled at them all, scaring the trio that had never seen her this happy before, only cranky and bitter, and went after her boyfriend.

She wished her invisibility cap from mother worked; she jogged across the forum, but as she reached the woods, she had to slow down and sneak around, what would be a lot easier while invisible.

Annabeth came to a halt. She stilled and listened.

" – really."

"Oh, shut up."

Her eyebrows raised and she walked in the direction of the voices. Percy's and some other… but familiar, too.

"But c'mon. Now maybe isn't the best time, but when it's finished, you could come for the re – "

"No, Percy. Just leave me be, okay?"

Very familiar.

"But listen, Hazel – "

"Percy, fuck off, please."

"You have really bad mouth for a thirteen year old."

Finally she saw them, standing in the shadows. And was that pizza? And chocolate cake? She was sure she'd seen it on the table a few minutes before. How did they get it?

"Nico?" she said surprised. Both boys turned rapidly, but Percy relaxed when he saw her. "How long have you been here? Why don't you come out?"

"Oh, not you too!" groaned Nico, banging the back of his head against a tree.

Her boyfriend rolled his eyes.

"He's pretty stubborn."

"And you're pretty annoying."

"Thanks."

"But why do you not want to come?" as soon as she asked, she realized the answer. "Oh, right! We're at that part. Well, you're safer here, I suppose. But you'll come later on. And tell me, when'd you get that food?"

"I won't!" protested Nico, at the same time as Percy said: "I got it."

Annabeth ignored di Angelo.

"Okay, but _when_? It was on the table just now, I saw it!"

"Hey, I _am_ a troubled kid" he winked at her, explaining nothing at all.

"Right, so thanks for food and all, but you can go" put in Nico.

"I feel so loved," muttered Percy.

The younger boy glared at him. Though it seemed he knew it was hopeless to argue with Percy (that boy was too persistent for his own good) and faced the tree, crossing his arms.

"Does anyone else kno – "

"No."

"Okay…" she stared at Nico, or rather his back. Still, if she was honest, she was quite used to this by now. "But Hazel – "

"No."

The couple sighed in unison.

"She should know, she's your sister," reminded him Percy.

For a while, he didn't answer. He then moaned quietly and heavily leaned his forehead on the trunk.

"Later. Just… later."

He couldn't see it, but they both nodded. She rather understood why he didn't want to face his half-sister right now. In the story Nico was "the bad guy" – kind of – and everyone was furious at him. She didn't want to know what Hazel was thinking about it, but she was probably confused and sad and disappointed.

Percy glanced up at her and somehow she got his silent message (which was creepy). She cleared her throat, slowly backing out.

"So, I'm going to the forum. I'll see you – _both_ of you – later."

Nico didn't react – no surprise here – and her boyfriend smiled at her relieved. He waited for her to disappear between the trees and the steps to fade. Then he turned to the younger boy.

He poked his side.

Son of Hades jumped so high in the air, Percy stepped back in surprise and snorted loudly. Cleary Nico wouldn't even _consider_ anyone _poking_ him, of all the things, and he almost accidentally shadow-traveled across the country. He quickly collected himself, turning to stare at Percy like "the hell, dude".

"_What was that_?"

"I poked you" was his simple answer.

"Why? What's wrong with you, Percy?"

The boy in question shrugged, giving him a grin. However, it soon slid from his face, a small frown taking its place. Son of Poseidon sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, and then abruptly sat down on the ground. The younger boy raised an eyebrow at him.

"I won't make you sit down, but you can, if you want to," said Percy.

Nico regarded him for a second, before slowly sitting down.

"I won't – "

"It's not about it" interrupted him Percy. "I think. I'm not sure what you were going to say. Anyways I – um, it's about what we're reading" the boy's expression flickered, like he was holding back, but Percy thought he saw an emotion resembling… worry? He couldn't be sure. "It's just – I'm sorry, okay? I know our relationship has been – er, shaky, but I kinda consider you my friend… and I'm a rubbish friend, really. I wish I did some things differently; I should've seen how the people treated you sooner and actually acted like a friend. Or did something at all. They're all so mean, but don't listen to them, they don't matter. You have friends at Camp Half-Blood, even if you don't acknowledge it, and we don't care if you can summon armies of dead or other freaky stuff. I mean – I talk to fish. Fish, Nico. We're all weird like that."

He had a feeling he was beginning to rant, so he shut up and looked at the boy for some reaction.

Somewhere in his tirade Nico's mouth went slightly ajar, but he realized and closed it, settling for just gaping wide-eyed at Percy. He expected something else entirely, that's sure, but as always, it was hard to read his emotions and what he thought about this little confession.

After a tense minute of staring at each other, the older boy waved a hand before di Angelo's face.

"Take that hand from my face" he finally said, breaking out of his daze. "That's… I didn't expect that."

"Clearly."

He glared at him, but without much passion.

"It's that… I thought you didn't like me. I'd never think you consider me a – a friend" he looked down. "After Bianca" his voice shook a little at the name." I assumed you hated me for forcing that promise on you… and how I later acted… and everything in general. I was a pain in the arse."

Percy laughed.

"That's funny, I thought you didn't like me. Y'know, for failing you… and all."

"How's that funny?"

"It's just a phrase" he rolled his eyes. A small smile crept on Nico's face and Percy realized something with a jolt. "You sarcastic little shit!"

"Excuse me?" he said amusedly.

"I've always thought you're grim and gloomy, but you're just sarcastic! Gods, you're good. My whole life was a lie!" he sighed dramatically.

"Look who's talking" snorted Nico. "You are, too!"

"But people can never tell, do they?" Percy grinned.

"Silly people" he agreed, understanding the older boy completely.

"Soo… friends?"

Nico bit his lip, nodding slowly. There was an explosion of emotions inside of him, but he did his best not to show it. They shook hands, Percy being as pompous as you could get, and decided it was time for Percy to go, or the people would start looking for him.

"Hey, listen… I'm sorry, too. My dad locking you up…"

"It's fine" son of Poseidon waved his hand carelessly. "I don't know when's another break, but we'll come here for you. And I'll take Hazel" he fixed him a pointed stare, which Nico ignored.

Soon after, he was left alone with his thoughts, cheese pizza and chocolate cake. His emotions were all mixed up and fuzzy, he couldn't really figure them out. He knew one thing, though – you don't become Percy's friend easily and he wouldn't lie about a thing like that.

So he was more determined than ever to get over his crush on him.

"What were you doing in the woods?"

"Percy, are you alright?"

"Where've you been?

"Why there?"

His friends and hopefully soon-to-be friends bombarded him with questions the second he reached the table. He also noticed with disappoint everyone was almost finished eating so was going to end up both hungry and annoyed when the people start their questioning. He sighed inwardly and smiled on the outside, sitting next to Annabeth, who hadn't batted an eye or even looked up from her pasta at his arrival. Only when he slid on the seat, she raised her gaze to him. They stared for a second at each other, smirking, then broke the eye contact and went back to their previous activities.

"What, can't I go for a walk?" said Percy innocently.

"In the middle of a meal, without a word of explanation, alone?" Reyna raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Yeah, just that" he nodded, reaching for food. When everyone continued to stare at him, he rolled his eyed. "Wanted to gather thoughts?"

"Why are you asking us?" said Reyna.

"Gods, have some trust in me, okay? I just did, it's not forbidden."

The Praetor narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't object. She decided to leave the matter, for now, however she'll find out sooner or later what he's up to.

"Fine."

"So, Percy, you'll explain everything, yeah?" said Frank when he was sure none of the Praetors were going to argue more.

Son of Poseidon groaned with mouth full of pizza (not the one he wanted, though, that one was being eaten while he was with Nico, dammit).

"Can we later?" he whined after swallowing.

"Well, if you haven't gone gods know where – "

"I get it, Reyna" he cut her off. "But I have to talk to someone yet."

"Who?" Annabeth finally showed some interest.

"Um, Ramona, was it?" he turned to the Romans and they nodded.

"Whatever for?" said Hazel.

"She seems nice" he shrugged.

"You said it already," pointed out Annabeth.

"What, you go and talk to anyone who seems nice?" snorted Leo.

"Kinda."

"Really?" Jason looked at him.

"I mean, I listened to the comments at the reading and… not all were nice" he furrowed his eyebrows, clearly bothered. "I just want to – I dunno – appreciate nice people? Just, you know, have good people on my side?"

"I think I get your point," said slowly Piper.

"Oh good, I really didn't know what to say."

"So nothing new here" sighed Annabeth, for what she received a bump in a shoulder. She pushed Percy right back, he did too, and after a minute, they almost fell off a couch, shoving each other with shoulders. The others stared at them; Reyna exasperated, Hazel, Frank and Piper in amusement, Leo laughing disbelievingly and Jason not really knowing what to think.

Finally, they pushed at the same time and howled with laughter.

"Seaweed Brain."

"Wise Girl."

"Kelp Head."

"Know-it-all."

"Fish Boy."

"Smarta – "

Suddenly Annabeth looked at him murderously, grabbed the front of his shirt and cut him off mid-sentence.

"Don't you dare, Jackson."

He stared innocently in her eyes, small grin plying on his lips.

" – sss…" he finished with self-satisfied smirk.

Before she could slay him, he slipped (okay, _bolted_ with difficulty) out of her grasp. He ran behind Reyna, grinning like a lunatic.

"PERSEUS JACKSON, YOU DID NOT JUST – "

She stormed up to him slowly backing away. Then he had the nerve to kiss her quickly and wink.

"I have someone to talk to, don't give the Romans impression we Greeks are nuts, if you could" and with that he turned and took off.

Annabeth closed her eyes, taking deep, calming breath.

"I will not kill him. I will not kill him. I cannot kill him… no matter how much I want to. But I will not kill him" she chanted quietly to herself. She shook her head and went to her seat.

The whole table was silent. Most looked like they were holding back their laughter, but no one dared to say a thing.

"Hi."

Three heads whipped around to face Percy. He hid his nervousness under a friendly smile, waiting for some kind of response.

"Hello" said a bemused girl, the one who was supposedly Ramona. She was skinny, had strawberry blonde hair, green-blue eyes and pointed nose.

"I'm Percy – "

"No duh" deadpanned another girl, quite beautiful, with bronze skin, long curly brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes with thick eyelashes. A second too late she seemed to realize what she said and toward who. She brought a hand to her mouth, whilst her friends glared at her.

Percy sensing the girl was just tactless, but meant nothing wrong, laughed.

"Right, I just didn't want to seem rude" he grinned. "But what're your names?"

"Ramona, daughter of Arcus" she looked at him apologetically, throwing her friend a wolf stare.

"Diana, daughter of Venus" Diana smiled embarrassedly, taking a step away from Ramona.

"Andrea, daughter of Victoria" said the third girl reminded him slightly about Rachel with her creamy, freckled skin and red hair in a messy bun, but she, unlike his friend, gave off this authority vibe and had brown eyes, and sharp facial structures instead. He'd known her for a second, but he could tell she was "calm and collected" kind of person. "But why are you asking?"

Ah, and the awkward explanation part.

"I don't know, to be honest," he blurted out. "But you seemed nice and, um, understanding towards Nico" he told Ramona. "Which is rarity here."

"Oh" she looked at him surprised. "Thanks. I never had anything against him, really. Well, he's a little bit creepy, but he's not bad or anything…"

"Too bad no one sees it" he sighed.

The three shared a curious look.

"Hey, is it true you brought him to your camp?" said Ramona, quickly adding: "If you don't mind me asking."

"Yeah, it's fine, but you're gonna find out anyways soon" he motioned Reyna with his head. "She'd rather bite my head off than let me off the hook."

"Isn't she, like, mature and…"

"But she's really curious and distrustful too. And she'd get away with it anyway – you know, no witnesses, no evidence…"

Ramona just raised her eyebrows amused at the answer to her question, but Andrea cocked her head.

"Nice opinion of her you have," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Pretty good, I think. Not many people would manage that. Anyway I'm gonna go, but it was nice to meet you all. You're sitting not far from us at the reading, yeah?"

They nodded.

"What, you have some plans toward us?" smiled Diana in what you could call flirtatious way. He didn't take it seriously – he learned some children of Aphrodite (or Venus in that case) came to an agreement with their 'love stuff' side of personality, inherited after their mother, of course, and were able to flirt even with a doorknob if it was good-looking enough.

Her friends, though, cast her scandalized looks and Ramona elbowed her.

"Chill" Percy laughed. "We have daughters of Aphrodite, too, you know. But actually yeah, it would be great if you could tell me about some of the people here."

He noticed Annabeth began sneaking looks in his direction and Reyna just stared at him, most likely getting impatient but unwilling to show it.

"That's fine" Ramona waved her hand nonchalantly. "The worst one you probably think of is Jeremy…"

"You'll tell about him when we're sitting, okay?" he smiled nevertheless interrupting her, although in his defense, he had a feeling she was going to get in a rant about the guy and he wouldn't get out of listening in less than half an hour, which was definitely too long for him.

"Sure" she smiled brilliantly, not minding the disruption one bit.

"Cool, thanks. So, see you."

They all shared last 'see you's and Percy went back to the table, relieved. He had been worried Ramona wasn't all that great, but she and her friends seemed nice and genuine.

"And?" said Annabeth, this time even before he reached them. What's with them asking questions the moment he comes?

"They're all cool, as I thought. Promised me to tell a bit about people."

He didn't sit. It seemed he couldn't stay in place for long, so he didn't bother this time.

"You ready for story time?" said Leo, grinning.

"Ooh, story time, can't wait" he answered flatly.

Reyna stood up (ha! For once, he was right).

"So we better go," she said. "I think everyone already awaits it."

It was weird, decided Piper, to feel like you've had a long, busy day, but the sun on the sky told you otherwise. The task of settling on some hour turned out insane and impossible. It was bright and sunny like at noon, but it'd been that way for about ten hours – though they couldn't even tell that for sure. The time flew by and no one was capable of telling how much passed exactly.

After the 'story time' people found they were all dead tired and for the first time wondered what they were going to do with the time frozen. No clock was working. They sky froze with sun high above them. What were they supposed to do?

In the end, they choose a glass hour. Simple and working. Still, they didn't know how much time had already passed, so they decided to call it a night.

The guests would sleep in the city, in a big apartment for rent. The others parted ways to their respectable places, and only Percy, Reyna and Jason (now, _that_ was awkward) stayed behind to escort the three Greeks to their temporary place. Along the way discussion somehow turned to the Praetorship and Piper was thankful Octavian wasn't around (the guy seriously had been getting on her nerves, especially with his inputs while Percy was talking) when Percy said he could step from his position for Jason, because it was 'no biggie' for him.

Jason refused, of course, being his noble and honorary himself.

Before the two could fight about it, they reached the apartment. It was nothing special, to be honest. Quite big, yes, so they had a bedroom each, but it was clearly arranged for renting. The walls were all in pastel colors, in the bedrooms there were only beds and wardrobes and in the small living room was just a couch. Reyna said unfortunately they had nothing else big enough for them and they couldn't allow them in the barracks, as it was strictly against the rules (Romans weren't the most hospitable lot, per see). But then Percy assured them someone was going to bring them at least chairs to sit on and a table. When Reyna was talking to Jason (Piper forced herself to look away), he whispered he got them a few other things, too, but Reyna didn't need to know.

Finally, when everything was settled, the two Praetors and Jason exited their apartment, promising to send someone in time for breakfast. Percy winked them, so Piper assumed he would be that someone. She shared a quick goodbye kiss with Jason, in opposite to Annabeth who whispered in Percy's ear, while he was kissing her jaw and neck, and took her time. Somehow, they made it look so intimate no one as much as glanced in their direction until they were finished. Then the three was alone.

For the first time she was with only Leo and Annabeth. It felt weird. Especially now that Annabeth seemed like another person – still intimidating and dangerous, but playful and fun all the same. It made Piper wonder how much a person can change.

"I'm taking this room, is it fine with you?" said Annabeth, pointing to the first room from the doorway.

As far as Piper knew, they hadn't been inside the bedrooms yet. She had a sneaking suspicion they – or rather Annabeth – was about to have a guest at night.

"Okay" said Leo confusedly. "But have you even been inside?"

"No, I just prefer to be close to exit" she lied smoothly. Ah, if not for her Aphrodite radar going off, maybe she would buy it.

"I'm taking the bigger one" Piper quickly put in, running to check which one would that be.

"Not fair!" called Leo, sprinting behind her.

She got the bigger room anyways.

"Hey" she felt a hot breath on her neck as a body sneaked in her bed.

"Hi" she said turning.

There he was, messed up hair, bright eyes, crocked grin and all. For a second she just stared and it felt like nothing happened. But when her eyes flickered down to the rest of him, she saw that yes, something did happen, and though she wasn't happy about it, she liked how it affected her boyfriend's body.

"What?" he whispered amused.

She just slid in his arms, resting her forehead against his neck.

"I missed you."

His arms slipped around her waist and back, clutching her tightly.

"I did, too" he placed his chin on her head. "You haven't changed, you know. And I'm glad, of course."

She laughed silently.

"I was afraid you would change… with amnesia and the Romans. But you didn't and I'm glad, too. Though…" mischievous smile appeared on her face as she leaned back to look him in the eye. "You did change, in a way."

"How?" adorable. He looked clueless and had honestly no idea what she was on about.

"You filled out pretty good. If that's what Roman training does – " she didn't finish as Percy started laughing, slightly flushed.

He kissed her _finally_ and talking turned out completely useless for quite some time. Not that she minded.

"You have to watch out" she said breathlessly, breaking apart after a long while. Wait, where did his shirt go?" They can't catch you."

"I know" he sighed, but instead of getting ready to go, he brought her close to him and lay.

"It would be so easier with at least clocks working" she muttered.

"I know," he said again.

"I wonder if really that much time passed or if we were just tired emotionally and mentally."

He shrugged.

"I don't know, we haven't done that much today."

"When you think about it, we read just two chapters. It's next to nothing."

"Remember most of the time was wasted arguing, talking, eating and all."

"Yeah, a lot was spent on listening to your heroic adventures" she smirked, knowing full well how uncomfortable he felt at the 'story time'. He didn't say anything, really, and she had to tell everything, because he was trying to down-play it or skip some parts.

"Shut up" he mumbled, shoving her slightly. "I didn't ask for it."

"I know, you'd rather talk to… wait" she propped herself on an elbow. "I just remembered. Where's Nico?"

"In his barrack. I went to check on him some time ago and he said he'll wait everyone out and shadow-travel straight to his bed, so thankfully no one will notice. Then he'll shadow-travel out of it back to the woods. I promised to wake him up when it's time" Percy calmed her down.

She stared at him for a moment, a smile making its way to her face. She suddenly rolled on top of him, grinning.

"I love you" she said without thinking. Then she realized it and stilled awaiting Percy's reaction.

He froze, wide-eyed, looking as though he couldn't comprehend what he just heard. His mouth formed different letters like he wasn't able to make up his mind. He finally swallowed and laughed disbelievingly out of blue.

"I love you too, Wise Girl," he said pulling her down to him.

* * *

**Hi people from Earth and the space!**

**I promised an update every two weeks, didn't I? So, here you go. Yeah, there's not actual chapter, but I hope you'll forgive me. I tried to make it long and look - over 4,600 words! That's almost as much as the chapters from PJO. **

**As always, I'll remind you SUGGESTIONS, CRITICISM AND IDEAS ARE GOOD. Feel free to write what you think, I'd be glad.**

**Remember to review! It motivates me to work :)**

**Love, Ronnie**


	5. 3 I TAKE THE WORST BATH EVER

Even before the day started, Percy knew it was going to be hard. He had a few reasons.

One: they were reading about his experiences from his point of view. Duh.

Two: he will be dead tired the whole day, seeing as he'd waited for everyone to fell asleep the day before to sneak to Annabeth, then spend a few hours there (and, boy, was he _awake_ then), go back, catch some sleep and then wake up before everyone else to wake up Nico (and thanks to the clocks freezing, he just half-slept on constant alert, checking the time on the hour glass he arranged with Reyna all the damn time) and after that he couldn't very well go back to sleep because he would have to get up soon anyway to return to Annabeth, Piper and Leo to wake _them_ up and he was already bloody tired.

Three: Octavian. Just – Octavian, no more words were needed.

Surprisingly though, he managed to do it all without getting in troubles for sneaking around and all. He was exhausted indeed, but satisfied, too. As he linked hands with Annabeth while going from the apartment to the forum, he decided it was all totally worth the trouble.

There was breakfast, usual – _loud_ – Greek vs. Roman interaction and bickering, whilst Percy checked on Nico again and threatened to drag him to the forum after the worst chapters are out of the way. His friends were getting suspicious, especially Reyna, and Nico had to come out of the woods at some point, because Percy sure as hell wouldn't keep getting him food for the whole story. Gods know how long that'll take.

Eventually the breakfast was over and everyone sat just as the day before, ready for reading.

"Who wants to read now?" said Reyna.

"I can," said Jason and she passed him the book. He took out the paper, looked it over, raised his eyebrows and stared at Annabeth incredulously. Like before, she shrugged and motioned at Percy, who grinned sheepishly. Jason shook his head.

"**I TAKE THE WORST BATH EVER**" he read.

**My sword reappeared in my pocket. Yeah, great timing. **

"Wait, what was going on cause I forgot" interrupted Leo.

"Really?" sighed Jason. He had a feeling this would happen a lot.

His friend just shrugged.

"Di Angelo betrayed Percy and Hades locked him up," said Reyna.

"Locked up Nico?"

Piper smacked his head with impassive face.

"Don't mind him, continue."

**Now I could attack the walls all I wanted. **

A few snorts.

**My cell had no bars, no windows, not even a door. **

"Huh?"

**The skeletal guards shoved me straight through a wall, and it became solid behind me.**

"Ooh!"

**I wasn't sure if the room was airtight. Probably.**

"Oh shit" muttered Leo. He jumped when Hazel gasped loudly and she blushed, looking down.

**Hades's dungeon was meant for dead people, and they don't breathe. So forget fifty or sixty years. I'd be dead in fifty or sixty minutes. **

"How could he?" said angrily Annabeth.

Some Romans looked scandalized, other were grim.

"Well, that's what you get for throwing rocks at a god" commented quietly a guy from the First Cohort.

**Meanwhile, if Hades wasn't lying, some big trap was going to be sprung in New York by the end of the day, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.**

"You're about to suffocate" said Ramona. "I think you have bigger problems at that moment."

**I sat on the cold stone floor, feeling miserable. I don't remember dozing off. Then again, it must've been about seven in the morning, mortal time, and I'd been through a lot. I dreamed I was on the porch of Rachel's beach house in St. Thomas. **

Someone wolf-whistled.

Percy sneaked a glance at Annabeth, who raised an eyebrow at him at the same time. He sent a weak smile her way and she rolled her eyes, so he risked putting his arm around her.

He silently thanked the gods when she didn't judo-flip him for that.

**The sun was rising over the Caribbean. Dozens of wooded islands dotted the sea, and white sails cut across the water. The smell of salt air made me wonder if I would ever see the ocean again. **

"Who knew you're such a pessimist" said Frank bemusedly.

"Realist" corrected him Percy.

"With these thoughts…" Hazel trailed off.

"It's rather sad" finished her boyfriend.

**Rachel's parents sat at the patio table while a personal chef fixed them omelets. Mr. Dare was dressed in a white linen suit. He was reading The Wall Street Journal. The lady across the table was probably Mrs. Dare, though all I could see of her were hot pink fingernails and the cover of Condé Nast Traveler. Why she'd be reading about vacations while she was on vacation, I wasn't sure.**

"_Mortals_" stage-whispered Leo, spreading his arms and earning himself a few chuckles.

**Rachel stood at the porch railing and sighed. She wore Bermuda shorts and her van Gogh T-shirt. **

"And you actually recognized it?" said Annabeth skeptically.

"Well…"

**Yeah, Rachel was trying to teach**** me about art, but don't get too impressed. I only remembered the dude's name because he cut his ear off.**

Annabeth's "And the world makes sense again" was lost in the laughter.

**I wondered if she was thinking about me, and how much it sucked that I wasn't with them on vacation.**

Percy's girlfriend narrowed her eyes at him. He was liking this chapter less and less… had he just found reason number four why this sucked?

**I know that's what I was thinking. **

"Really now?"

Percy chose to leave Annabeth's question unanswered, glaring at the demigods around him stifling their laughter and giggles. Even Ramona.

**Then the scene changed. I was in St. Louis, standing downtown under the Arch. I'd been there before. In fact, I'd almost fallen to my death there before.**

"Is there a place in the world that wouldn't remind you or wasn't a place where you almost died?" said Gwen.

"If there is, I haven't been there yet."

**Over the city, a thunderstorm boiled-a wall of absolute black with lightning streaking across the sky. A few blocks away, swarms of emergency vehicles gathered with their lights flashing. A column of dust rose from a mound of rubble, which I realized was a collapsed skyscraper.**

Whispers rose, but no one interrupted, even to question Percy or Annabeth (they were learning, it seemed).

**A nearby reporter was yelling into her microphone: "Officials are describing this as a structural failure, Dan, though no one seem to know if it is related to the storm conditions."**

**Wind whipped her hair. The temperature was dropping rapidly, like ten degrees just since I'd been standing there.**

"Ugh, demigod dreams are awful," moaned Diana.

"You feel everything," agreed one of her sisters.

**"Thankfully, the building had been abandoned for demolition," she said. "But police have evacuated all nearby buildings for fear the collapse might trigger-"**

**She faltered as a mighty groan cut through the sky. A blast of lightning hit the center of the darkness. The entire city shook. The air glowed, and every hair on my body stood up. The blast was so powerful I knew it could only be one thing: Zeus's master bolt.**

Gasps were heard all around.

**It should have vaporized its target, but the dark cloud only staggered backward. A smoky fist appeared out of the clouds. It smashed another tower, and the whole thing collapsed like children's blocks.**

"That's him!"

Many people realized at that moment what was happening and what the gods had been dealing with.

**The reporter screamed. People ran through the streets. Emergency lights flashed. I saw a streak of silver in the sky-a chariot pulled by reindeer, but it wasn't Santa Claus driving. **

Leo roared with laughter and many along with him. Annabeth face-palmed, then hid her head in her hands and Percy had to rub her back, assuring her he was just joking.

**It was Artemis, **

"My namesake" Diana smiled brilliantly.

**riding the storm, shooting shafts of moonlight into the darkness. A fiery golden comet crossed her path . . . maybe her brother Apollo.**

"Most probably" nodded Reyna.

**One thing was clear: Typhon had made it to the Mississippi River. He was halfway across the U.S., leaving destruction in his wake, and the gods were barely slowing him down.**

"Oh Styx."

"Not good, not good at all…"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit."

Curses flowed around the crowd. Hazel looked about to faint, all red in face, and Percy felt sorry for her.

But that didn't mean he'd point out to everyone it all already happened and the gods won.

**The mountain of darkness loomed above me. A foot the size of Yankee Stadium was about to smash me when a voice hissed,**

**"Percy!"**

"Someone's rescuing you!" said Ramona relieved.

**I lunged out blindly.**

"Real smart" said sarcastically the mean guy.

Percy glanced at Ramona questioningly, pointing with a chin at the guy.

'Jeremy' she mouthed.

**Before I was fully awake, I had Nico pinned to the floor of the cell with the edge of my sword at his throat.**

Pregnant pause. Romans looked at each other, then at Percy, and if he hadn't had their respect already, he would earn it now. However, he did earn Jason's, Piper's and Leo's, too now.

Percy turned to Jeremy.

"So, you were saying?" he asked conversationally.

"Nothing."

He didn't answer to that, but a smug smirk appeared on his face.

"Okay, but can we appreciate it was damn awesome?" butted in Leo.

"Smooth, Leo" laughed Piper.

"Do I have competition?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

At this, even Jason couldn't stop a snort from escaping him.

**"Want . . . to . . . rescue," he choked.**

"Right" scoffed some Roman.

"He did," said Percy, without looking at the Roman.

**Anger woke me up fast. "Oh, yeah? And why should I trust you?"**

Reyna again raised an eyebrow at him, as though asking _why_. He gave her mischievous smile, the one that annoyed people to no end while someone knew something the others didn't. Yeah, _that_ one.

"Yeah, why should he!" cried someone from the back.

Percy considered answering, but decided it would take too much time and they'll find out anyways.

**"No . . . choice?" he gagged.**

"He has a point" frowned a Roman girl.

**I wished he hadn't said something logical like that. I let him go.**

"Percy does the smart thing!" gasped Annabeth. She was shoved for that.

**Nico curled into a ball and made retching sounds while his throat recovered. **

"Ouch?" said Leo.

"Ouch" nodded solemnly Piper.

"That's… bizarre" whispered a girl on the other side of forum to her friend.

"I seriously can't imagine him in that state," agreed said friend.

"Like, he's always so dark and yeah, not really dangerous, but still – him being so normal and all."

They both shook their head in disbelieve.

**Finally he got to his feet, eyeing my sword warily.**

"I would, too" muttered Ramona.

**His own blade was sheathed. I suppose if he'd wanted to kill me, he could've done it while I slept. Still, I didn't trust him.**

A lot of demigods and legacies looked like they wanted to give some mean advices, but kept it to themselves just because of Percy.

**"We have to get out of here," he said.**

"No duh."

**"Why?" I said. "Does your dad want to talk to me again?"**

"You were sarcastic then, right?"

Percy gave the guy a look that spoke for itself.

**He winced. "Percy, I swear on the River Styx, I didn't know what he was planning."**

"So he really didn't know," said in surprise some girl.

**"You know what your dad is like!"**

**"He tricked me. He promised-" Nico held up his hands. "Look . . . right now, we need to leave. I put the guards to sleep, but it won't last."**

"Don't trust him" whispered someone in the crowd. Unfortunately, Percy's glare wasn't able to reach them.

**I wanted to strangle him again. **

"Do it!"

Annabeth squeezed his arm to calm her boyfriend down.

**Unfortunately, he was right. We didn't have time to argue, and I couldn't escape on my own. He pointed at the wall. A whole section vanished, revealing a corridor.**

**"Come on." Nico led the way.**

"No" moaned someone again.

"Could you just shut up about Nico?" said Percy loudly.

Unsurprisingly, no one answered.

**I wished I had Annabeth's invisibility hat, **

"You have it still?" Piper peered at her with curiosity. She couldn't recall ever seeing that hat.

"Kind of. It doesn't work anymore," said Annabeth, causing Percy to snap his head in her direction.

"No? But – "

She pinched his side, raising an eyebrow. He got the message and turned back to Jason.

**but as it turned out, I didn't need it. Every time we came to a skeleton guard, Nico just pointed at it, and its glowing eyes dimmed. **

"That's scary."

**Unfortunately, the more Nico did it, the more tired he seemed. We walked through a maze of corridors filled with guards. By the time we reached a kitchen staffed by skeletal cooks and servants,**

"Seriously?"

**I was practically carrying Nico. He managed to put all the dead to sleep but nearly passed out himself.**

"That doesn't speak for a bad person," said Andrea in a clear voice. It was the first time she had spoken during the reading and Percy threw her a grin.

**I dragged him out of the servants' entrance and into the Fields of Asphodel. **

"How did you know what was it?"

"Well, Hazel, I've been around there more than I wished and it's kinda unforgettable place."

**I almost felt relieved until I heard the sound of bronze gongs high in the castle.**

"Shit, shit, shit."

**"Alarms," Nico murmured sleepily.**

"Shit, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT."

**"What do we do?"**

**He yawned then frowned like he was trying to remember. "How about . . . run?"**

"He can't be serious," whispered flatly Reyna.

**Running with a drowsy child of Hades was more like doing a three-legged race with a life-size rag doll. **

Few people with a dry sense of humor – like Leo – chuckled.

**I lugged him along, holding my sword in front of me. The spirits of the dead made way like the Celestial bronze was a blazing fire.**

**The sound of gongs rolled across the fields. Ahead loomed the walls of Erebos, but the longer we walked, the farther away they seemed. I was about to collapse from exhaustion when I heard a familiar "WOOOOOF!"**

"Thank the gods."

**Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of nowhere and ran circles around us, ready to play.**

**"Good girl.'" I said. "Can you give us a ride to the Styx?"**

**The word Styx got her excited. She probably thought I meant sticks.**

Everyone was getting more and more fond of the Hellhound.

**She jumped a few times, chased her tail just to teach it who was boss,**

This time nearly everyone laughed.

**and then calmed down enough for me to push Nico onto her back. I climb aboard,**

"Aboard" snorted Leo. "Like on a ship?"

His friends slowly turned to him. Reyna arched an eyebrow.

"Never mind."

**and she raced toward the gates. She leaped straight over the EZ-DEATH line, sending guards sprawling and causing more alarms to blare. **

"That's what I call dramatic exit!"

**Cerberus barked, but he sounded more excited than angry, like: Can I play too?**

And more laughs.

**Fortunately, he didn't follow us, and Mrs. O'Leary kept running.**

**She didn't stop until we were far upriver and the fires of Erebos had disappeared in the murk. Nico slid off Mrs. O'Leary's back and crumpled in a heap on the black sand.**

**I took out a square of ambrosia-part of the emergency god-food I always kept with me. It was a little bashed up, but Nico chewed it.**

"Ew."

**"Uh," he mumbled. "Better."**

**"Your powers drain you too much," I noted.**

**He nodded sleepily. "With great power . . . comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later."**

Some roared with laughter, some were wide-eyed that _Nico_ of all people would say something this funny and some cried in disbelieve and frustration.

"_Really?_"

"_Now?!_"

**"Whoa, zombie dude."**

Leo snorted and muttered to himself: "Zombie dude."

**I caught him before he could pass out again. "We're at the river. You need to tell me what to do."**

"I still think you're bonkers."

"Thanks."

**I fed him the last of my ambrosia, which was a little dangerous. The stuff can heal demigods, but it can also burn us to ashes if we eat too much. Fortunately, it seemed to do the trick. Nico shook his head a few times and struggled to his feet.**

"So, you risked burning him to ashes to save yourself?" said Annabeth.

"Um… us _both_. And I was still kind of angry at him, okay?" he looked sheepish.

**"My father will be coming soon," he said. "We should hurry."**

"No shit."

**The River Styx's current swirled with strange objects-broken toys, ripped-up college diplomas, wilted homecoming corsages-all the dreams people had thrown away as they'd passed from life into death. Looking at the black water, I could think of about three million places I'd rather swim.**

"Starting with Lethe?" said Leo sarcastically, referencing to Percy's story how he took an unplanned swim in river Lethe.

**"So . . . I just jump in?"**

"I don't think it's that easy."

**"You have to prepare yourself first," Nico said, "or the river will destroy you. It will burn away your body and soul."**

**"Sounds fun," I muttered.**

**"This is no joke," Nico warned. "There is only one way to stay anchored to your mortal life. You have to . . ."**

**He glanced behind me and his eyes widened.**

"Have to what?" called someone desperately.

**I turned and found myself face-to-face with a Greek warrior. For a second I thought he was Ares, because this guy looked exactly like the god of war-tall and buff, with a cruel scarred face and closely shaved black hair. **

"So like half of the Roman folk," mumbled Percy in his girlfriend's ear.

**He wore a white tunic and bronze armor. He held a plumed war helm under his arm. But his eyes were human-pale green like a shallow sea-and a bloody arrow stuck out of his left calf, just above the ankle.**

"No way."

"Yes way," laughed Percy as everyone gaped.

"You're so lucky," said Jason, seemingly without thinking.

"Am I? Think again, please."

"Sorry" he quickly went back to the book.

**I stunk at Greek names, but even I knew the greatest warrior of all time, who had died from a wounded heel.**

**"Achilles," I said.**

"Still – _whoa_."

**The ghost nodded. "I warned the other one not to follow my path. Now I will warn you."**

**"Luke? You spoke with Luke?"**

**"Do not do this," he said. "It will make you powerful. But it will also make you weak. Your prowess in combat will be beyond any mortal's, but your weaknesses, your failings will increase as well."**

"Really?" frowned Reyna.

"Yep. Honestly I'm glad I don't have that curse anymore."

Many threw him skeptic looks, but didn't comment.

**"You mean I'll have a bad heel?" I said. "Couldn't I just, like, wear something besides sandals? No offense."**

"I can't believe you said it. To Achilles. Oh my gods, Percy…" Annabeth shook her head.

Again, everyone was laughing.

**He stared down at his bloody foot. "The heel is only my physical weakness, demigod. My mother, Thetis, held me there when she dipped me in the Styx. What really killed me was my own arrogance.**

"I don't think that's a threat to Percy" said Hazel. "He's anything but arrogant."

He smiled at her warmly.

"Yeah" added Annabeth. "Maybe rude, but – " she cut herself off with a chuckle, when Percy turned to her with a glare.

**Beware! Turn back!"**

**He meant it. I could hear the regret and bitterness in his voice. He was honestly trying to save me from a terrible fate.**

"That's so sad."

**Then again, Luke had been here, and he hadn't turned back. That's why Luke had been able to host the spirit of Kronos without his body disintegrating. This is how he'd prepared himself, and why he seemed impossible to kill. He had bathed in the River Styx and taken on the powers of the greatest mortal hero, Achilles. He was invincible.**

"You're so screwed."

"Unless… unless Percy follows his path."

He felt the people's eyes on him, but he didn't turn to them.

**"I have to," I said. "Otherwise I don't stand a chance."**

**Achilles lowered his head. "Let the gods witness I tried. Hero, if you must do this, concentrate on your mortal point. Imagine one spot of your body that will remain vulnerable. This is the point where your soul will anchor your body to the world. It will be your greatest weakness, but also your only hope. No man may be completely invulnerable. Lose sight of what keeps you mortal, and the River Styx will burn you to ashes. You will cease to exist."**

"It seems easy at first, to be honest," said a son of Ceres. "But when you _really_ think about it…"

"Ouch again?" said Leo.

"Ouch again," chorused Percy, Annabeth, Piper and Reyna.

**"I don't suppose you could tell me Luke's mortal point?"**

**He scowled. "Prepare yourself, foolish boy. Whether you survive this or not, you have sealed your doom!"**

**With that happy thought, he vanished.**

"What a nice guy."

**"Percy," Nico said, "maybe he's right."**

"Wait, wasn't it he who thought about it?"

**"This was your idea."**

"Exactly my point."

**"I know, but now that we're here-"**

" – have seen doom, death and almost died, we can go back!" finished cheerfully Leo.

**"Just wait on the shore. If anything happens to me . . . Well, maybe Hades will get his wish, and you'll be the child of the prophecy after all."**

"Aren't you a little ray of sunshine?"

**He didn't look pleased about that, but I didn't care.**

**Before I could change my mind, I concentrated on the small of my back-a tiny point just opposite my navel. It was well defended when I wore my armor. It would be hard to hit by accident, and few enemies would aim for it on purpose. No place was perfect, but this seemed right to me, and a lot more dignified than, like, my armpit or something.**

"That's… actually pretty smart" admitted Reyna.

"Gods, good thing I don't have this curse anymore, I'd be practically dead" said Percy, eyeing all the people that would know his weak spot.

"Are you suggesting – "

"Read on, Jason," put in Annabeth.

**I pictured a string, a bungee cord connecting me to the world from the small of my back. And I stepped into the river.**

Everyone held their breath.

**Imagine jumping into a pit of boiling acid. **

Gasps and hissing were heard.

**Now multiply that pain times fifty. **

Annabeth paled.

"It didn't hurt that much…" she trailed off at the look on her boyfriend's face.

**You still won't be close to understanding what it felt like to swim in the Styx.**

More than one person covered their mouth with hands, some were green on face. Hazel even had teary eyes as she looked at Percy in fear.

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm here and I'm fine," he reminded everyone awkwardly.

**I planned to walk in slow and courageous like a real hero. As soon as the water touched my legs, my muscles turned to jelly and I fell face-first into the current.**

**I submerged completely. For the first time in my life, I couldn't breathe underwater. I finally understood the panic of drowning. Every nerve in my body burned. I was dissolving in the water. I saw faces-Rachel, Grover, Tyson, my mother-but they faded as soon as they appeared.**

"Annabeth, you're cutting off the blood from my arm."

"Oh my gods."

"Shit."

"Percy… I can't believe…"

"Holy mother of Zeus!"

"Styx, how did you…"

"Annabeth, I'm serious. You're killing my arm."

**"Percy," my mom said. "I give you my blessing."**

**"Be safe, brother!" Tyson pleaded.**

**"Enchiladas!" Grover said. **

The comment was so unexpected everyone laughed, slightly hysterically.

**I wasn't sure where that came from, but it didn't seem to help much.**

"Noo, really?"

**I was losing the fight. The pain was too much. My hands and feet were melting into the water, my soul was being ripped from my body. I couldn't remember who I was. The pain of Kronos's scythe had been nothing compared to this.**

"Annabeth… please… my arm… I'd like to use it sometime…"

**The cord, a familiar voice said. Remember your lifeline, dummy! **

**Suddenly there was a tug in my lower back. The current pulled at me, but it wasn't carrying me away anymore. I imagined the string in my back keeping me tied to the shore.**

"I don't get it," said Reyna, frowning.

**"Hold on, Seaweed Brain." It was Annabeth's voice, much clearer now.**

"Oooch!"

"Okay, I get it know."

"_EEEEK_!"

I won't even mention the squeals from the Venus' children. And, amidst it all, Annabeth found Percy's gaze. They locked eyes, linking their hands together and Percy breathed a sigh of relieve, discreetly rubbing his numb arm.

**"You're not getting away from me that easily."**

Annabeth laughed, nodding, but her eyes got a little bleary.

**The cord strengthened.**

**I could see Annabeth now-standing barefoot above me on the canoe lake pier. I'd fallen out of my canoe. That was it. She was reaching out her hand to haul me up, and she was trying not to laugh. **

"I can totally see that happen," said Frank.

"It happened," said the couple in synch.

**She wore her orange camp T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was tucked up in her Yankees cap, which was strange because that should have made her invisible.**

**"You are such an idiot sometimes." She smiled. "Come on. Take my hand."**

"_This is so cute I just can't_!"

"_I knooow. EEEEK_!"

"Aww," Piper smiled at them.

**Memories came flooding back to me-sharper and more colorful. I stopped dissolving. My name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeth's hand.**

"You saved him!" gasped a girl.

Percy and Annabeth shared amused glances.

**Suddenly I burst out of the river. I collapsed on the sand, and Nico scrambled back in surprise.**

"I wish I could've seen that," muttered someone.

**"Are you okay?" he stammered. "Your skin. Oh, gods. You're hurt!"**

"Like he'd care!" hissed quietly a daughter of Trivia, so Percy didn't hear her.

**My arms were bright red. I felt like every inch of my body had been broiled over a slow flame.**

People gasped, hissed or winced in sympathy. Percy's friends looked at him with mixture of sadness and dread, Hazel still covering her mouth with a hand.

He tried to give them a calming smile.

**I looked around for Annabeth, though I knew she wasn't here. It had seemed so real.**

**"I'm fine . . . I think." The color of my skin turned back to normal.**

Everyone breathed out in relief.

**The pain subsided. Mrs. O'Leary came up and sniffed me with concern. Apparently I smelled really interesting.**

Ramona snorted.

"That's what you think about" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**"Do you feel stronger?" Nico asked.**

**Before I could decide what I felt, a voice boomed, "THERE!"**

"Great. Just great" groaned Piper.

"He's invincible, now," Reyna pointed out coolly. "It shouldn't be a problem."

"Yeah" said Jason without taking his eyes off the page. "I mean, you're still totally screwed, but we know you're gonna live anyway."

The corner of Reyna's mouth twitched.

**An army of the dead marched toward us. A hundred skeletal Roman legionnaires led the way with shields and spears. Behind them came an equal number of British redcoats with bayonets fixed. In the middle of the host, Hades himself rode a black-and-gold chariot pulled by nightmare horses, their eyes and manes smoldering with fire.**

"Holy… shit…"

Worried murmur arose, getting louder with each sentence. At the mention of Hades, though, it was cut short by gasps and quiet moans.

"Dude," said Leo. "Duuudeee… dude!"

"Yeah, I get it. I'm a dude."

"How. Are. You. Alive."

"Dumb luck."

**"You will not escape me this time, Percy Jackson!" Hades bellowed. "Destroy him!"**

Percy was sure if Annabeth had a pencil in her hands, it would by snapped in half by now.

**"Father, no!" Nico shouted, but it was too late. **

"At least he tried," said Hazel quietly.

Frank rubbed her arm awkwardly, hoping to lift her spirits a bit.

**The front line of Roman zombies lowered their spears and advanced. Mrs. O'Leary growled and got ready to pounce. Maybe that's what set me off. I didn't want them hurting my dog.**

"Honestly, Percy, what's wrong with you?" laughed Piper, as many shook their heads.

"A lot," he grinned back.

**Plus, I was tired of Hades being a big bully. If I was going to die, I might as well go down fighting.**

"That's the spirit," nodded Reyna with respect.

A few Romans gave war cries of agreement.

**I yelled, and the River Styx exploded. **

"What!"

"You shouldn't be able to control it!"

"_I'm soo glad he's on our side."_

**A black tidal wave smashed into the legionnaires. Spears and shields flew everywhere. Roman zombies began to dissolve, smoke coming off their bronze helmets.**

"That was surprisingly easy," said Jason, startled.

"It's not all," reminded him Piper.

**The redcoats lowered their bayonets, but I didn't wait for them. I charged.**

Everyone just sighed at this point, not bothering to comment.

**It was the stupidest thing I've ever done. **

"Agreed."

**A hundred muskets fired at me, point blank. All of them missed. I crashed into their line and started hacking with Riptide. Bayonets jabbed. Swords slashed. Guns reloaded and fired. Nothing touched me.**

**I whirled through the ranks, slashing redcoats to dust, one after the other. My mind went on autopilot: stab, dodge, cut, deflect, roll. Riptide was no longer a sword. It was an arc of pure destruction.**

**I broke through the enemy line and leaped into the black chariot. Hades raised his staff. A bolt of dark energy shot toward me, but I deflected it off my blade and slammed into him. The god and I both tumbled out of the chariot.**

**The next thing I knew, my knee was planted on Hades's chest. I was holding the collar of his royal robes in one fist, and the tip of my sword was poised right over his face.**

Jason finally paused, taken aback by the lack of any reaction, especially at _that_ moment. He glanced up and understood instantly.

Every single person but one had a dropped jaw. They just gawked, unmoving, at Percy who was eyeing his sneakers, as if wondering how they found their way to his feet, and chewing on his bottom lip.

"No way," said Reyna in a very unlike her, shocked way.

Leo suddenly dropped to his knees and dramatically reached to Percy.

"You, sir, are my hero."

It seemed to break the tension, as some laughed ('the hero' included, who then kicked Leo lightly and proceeded to help the younger boy get up). People started to talk, one louder from the other. They commented, shouted or squealed, all still looking at Percy, either sneaking subtle glances or gaping shamelessly.

"That's just impossible!"

" – and one of the Big Three, too!"

"I want to marry him."

Percy did a double take as he heard that one. Annabeth did, too, so he had to keep her from slaying the girl who dared to say it.

Alas, his friends were no better. They began to question him, slight awe in their eyes (some were better at hiding it – Reyna and Jason, some not so much – Leo and Frank). He looked for help to Annabeth, but she was too busy glaring daggers at girls ogling him and giggling.

He was damn uncomfortable.

He looked around for any water around, but he found none. He suspected it would be so, as Reyna foresaw everything and knew his potential well enough. It was morbidly funny, though, how the people could base an opinion of someone just on how strong and powerful they seemed, as if other traits were worthless. Like kindness, loyalty or selflessness weren't as important, because you couldn't spectacularly fight enemies with it.

Subconsciously, his gaze wandered to Frank and Hazel, probably two the most underappreciated demigods ever. Why didn't they get this much glory?

"I'd like a cheese cake" he blurted out, desperate to avert the attention from him.

Awe slipped from faces and was replaced with confusion. Annabeth patted his arm.

"Sadly, I see even Roman training can't give you some brains."

"Cheese pizza would be fine, too. I'd just like something with cheese, really."

His friends laughed, rolling eyes, shaking heads or rubbing their foreheads, but he only grinned. Jason didn't wait for everyone to quiet down; he picked up the book, cleared his throat and immediately all the attention was on him.

**Silence. The army did nothing to defend their master. I glanced back and realized why. There was nothing left of them but weapons in the sand and piles of smoking, empty uniforms. I had destroyed them all.**

Leo clapped his hands slowly and pompously.

**Hades swallowed. "Now, Jackson, listen here. . . ."**

**He was immortal. There was no way I could kill him, but gods can be wounded. I knew that firsthand, and I figured a sword in the face wouldn't feel too good.**

"Don't you say" grinned Ramona.

**"Just because I'm a nice person," I snarled, "I'll let you go. But first, tell me about that trap!"**

**Hades melted into nothing, leaving me holding empty black robes. **

"That's heroic" scoffed a voice behind Percy. He hastily looked back to see Gwen getting comfortable on a chair that wasn't there a minute ago. Upon noticing his gaze, she smiled brightly. "Someone was annoying me, so I thought about a change of sitting."

He nodded slowly before turning around to Jason.

**I cursed and got to my feet, breathing heavily. Now that the danger was over, I realized how tired I was. Every muscle in my body ached. I looked down at my clothes. They were slashed to pieces and full of bullet holes, but I was fine. Not a mark on me.**

"I want it, too" moaned one voice.

"You sure? Remember something about boiling acid…?" answered another voice.

"Never mind."

The demigods in the center of attention shared amused glances. Then Percy heard some shuffling behind himself again and then a groan.

"Why'd you go?" slurred the ever-familiar voice of Dakota.

"Oh, it was too crowdy there, why did you think?" said sarcastically Gwen.

"Oh, good, we thought you didn't want to sit with us," answered Bobby's voice, honestly relieved.

Annabeth and Frank snorted, clearly also having heard the conversation and Gwen sighed.

**Nico's mouth hung open. "You just . . . with a sword . . . you just-"**

**"I think the river thing worked," I said.**

Ramona gasped loudly and over-dramatically.

**"Oh gee," he said sarcastically. "You think?"**

Slightly more people laughed at Nico's joke than the last time.

**Mrs. O'Leary barked happily and wagged her tail. She bounded round, sniffing empty uniforms and hunting for bones. I lifted Hades's robe.**

"Bad metal image" mumbled Dakota. Once again, Percy and those next to him stifled laughter.

**I could still see the tormented faces shimmering in the fabric.**

"The poor souls" cooed sadly Diana.

**I walked to the edge of the river. "Be free."**

**I dropped the robe in the water and watched as it swirled away, dissolving in the current.**

Hazel smiled at the son of Poseidon.

**"Go back to your father," I told Nico. "Tell him he owes me for letting him go. Find out what's going to happen to Mount Olympus and convince him to help."**

"Oh, just that? Maybe some tap dance, too?"

**Nico stared at me. "I . . . I can't. He'll hate me now. I mean . . . even more."**

Frank awkwardly grabbed Hazel's hand when he noticed her frown.

**"You have to," I said. "You owe me too."**

"Ouch" winced Piper.

**His ears turned red. "Percy, I told you I was sorry. Please . . . let me come with you. I want to fight."**

At least half of the gathered people made disbelieving faces.

**"You'll be more help down here."**

**"You mean you don't trust me anymore," he said miserably.**

"Geez, I wonder why."

**I didn't answer. I didn't know what I meant. **

"Of course" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**I was too stunned by what I'd just done in battle to think clearly.**

**"Just go back to your father," I said, trying not to sound too harsh.**

Percy sincerely hoped Nico was listening now. He would know, at the very least, Percy had never really hated him.

**"Work on him. You're the only person who might be able to get him to listen."**

**"That's a depressing thought." Nico sighed. "All right. I'll do my best. Besides, he's still hiding something from me about my mom. Maybe I can find out what."**

It wasn't an uncommon thing for demigods to not have their mortal parents. It was indeed rarer for Romans than for Greeks; however, there were still a lot of kids and teenagers that never got the chance to meet their mothers or fathers before their deaths. Therefore, something in Nico's situation hit too close to home.

You could notice random people amidst the crowd squirming uncomfortably in their seats. What would they do to find out about their parents? How much their past was worth to them?

Did they have the right to judge a ten-year-old the way they did?

**"Good luck. Now Mrs. O'Leary and I have to go."**

**"Where?" Nico said.**

**I looked at the cave entrance and thought about the long climb back to the world of the living. "To get this war started. It's time I found Luke."**

The book closed with a thump. Jason looked around; he could see curious kids on the edge of their chairs, still a few people staring at Percy dumbly and many demigods lost in thought.

It was quiet and tension was running high, he could tell. It was closer and closer to the climax. Soon, they would hear about the biggest demigod battle in this century. Who wouldn't be eager?

He smiled, excitement already pumping in his blood.

"Who wants to read?"

**Okay, the chapter was supposed to be here yesterday, but my day was really hectic (I went to school and back three times and practically spent the day there). And today wasn't much better, generally I just realized it wasn't finished, even though I was sure it was and my dad broke wi-fi at home, which I'd thought was impossible (thanks, dad) and overall, positing it was awful. **

**But hey, here it is! **

**As always, guys, FEEDBACK PLEASE. Bad? Good? Pizza? Just write me what you think, please, I need it. **

**I hope I'll update it in time, but I'm really busy with two contests at school – movie contests. Turns out movie making takes up a lot of time – okay, I knew it does – and with everything I don't have much time to write. But don't worry, I will! It may be a few days late, though.**

**That's all, I think, thanks for reading. Cheers, folks!**

**Ronnie**


	6. 4 TWO SNAKES SAVE MY LIFE

"Actually" said Percy. "Maybe a break would…"

"What?" cut him off Reyna. "You want a break now? We just started reading."

"Uh, I know, but… I'm hungry" he lied.

Everyone rolled their eyes fondly or snorted.

"You're always hungry," said Annabeth in a tone suggesting she'd said it more times than she'd like.

"Well, yeah, but – "

"No way, Percy" said Reyna sternly. "One chapter is not enough. You have to wait two more, at the very least."

"At that pace, we'll never finish it," agreed Jason.

"It's not like we don't have the time" he mumbled, but then nodded. "Right. Two more chapters."

He stared in the direction of where Nico would be now. That little shit was probably pleased with how things turned out, but Percy would get him out of there anyway. Nico was almost in the clear now, and after the chapter (or chapters?) where he fights along, the Romans will give him the respect he deserves.

Percy would make sure of that.

A hand slipped in his and Annabeth bumped shoulders with him. Her eyes seemed to say 'nothing we can do about it, buddy'.

"So, who's reading now?" repeated Jason.

Silence rang in the air.

"Come on, people" groaned Leo. "Somebody has to read!"

"Are you volunteering?" said coolly Reyna.

He stared at her in horror.

"No!" he spluttered and threw himself off the chair to get farther away from Praetor Ramirez.

"Oh, but it's a great idea" said Piper cheerily and glanced pointedly at her boyfriend. Jason shrugged at his friend, who had gasped loudly, and chucked the book at him.

Leo cried out like he was in pain, but Percy kicked him, so he sighed deeply, scrambled back on his seat and opened the book.

"**TWO SNAKES SAVE MY LIFE**" he begun dramatically.

Everyone resisted the urge to roll their eyes. Only Annabeth reached for Percy's hand and squeezed it tightly. He smiled back reassuringly.

**I love New York. You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park, hail a taxi, head down Fifth Avenue with a giant hellhound loping along behind you, and nobody even looks at you funny.**

Those who had never been outside the camp and New Rome's boundaries appeared bewildered. Others just chuckled or sighed longingly.

**Of course, the Mist helped. People probably couldn't see Mrs. O'Leary, or maybe they thought she was a large, loud, very friendly truck.**

"Actually" said Percy. "They see a poodle."

After a beat of silence, everyone snorted or giggled.

**I took the risk of using my mom's cell phone to call Annabeth for the second time. I'd called her once from the runnel**

"I don't think there's good signal in the Underground," said Jeremy with a sneer.

**but only reached her voice mail. I'd gotten surprisingly good reception, seeing as I was at the mythological center of the world and all, but I didn't want to see what my mom's roaming charges were going to be.**

Percy barely kept a smirk from his face, but Leo paused to laugh sardonically in Jeremy's face.

**This time, Annabeth picked up.**

**"Hey," I said. "You get my message?"**

"I wouldn't be so casual."

**"Percy, where have you been? Your message said almost nothing! **

"There wasn't that much to say. '_Hey, I bathed in the River Styx, but I'm alive. I'm on my way._'"

**We've been worried sick!"**

**"I'll fill you in later," I said, though how I was going to do that I had no idea.**

"So, as usually?"

Percy drenched his girlfriend in water. She looked at him murderously, though shock was evident in her eyes, so he dried her off in panic and gave a kiss before she attempted to kill him.

**"Where are you?"**

"Better question, where are _you_?"

"What?"

Everyone looked confused as to who'd said it and what the Hades did they mean.

**"We're on our way like you asked, almost to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. But, Percy, what are you planning? We've left the camp virtually undefended, and there's no way the gods-"**

"You had no idea what he's planning and you still followed his insanely dangerous plan?" interrupted Octavian hoarsely. "How stupid is that?"

Many glanced at him in surprise. Stunned, Percy realized he had forgotten all about Octavian up until now. And there was a reason behind it, he could tell.

His hair was for the first time ever _messy_, his eyes bloodshot and face red. Had had red marks on his face, too, like he had been hit or gagged.

"He's croaking or…?" Hazel trailed off when she saw Percy nod.

"I think we missed something," he muttered back.

He noticed then Piper's suspiciously smug face. She smiled innocently at everyone, as more people were staring at her with each second.

"This" Annabeth glared at Octavian, who seemed uneasy enough by Piper's stare. "is trust. You could learn about it a thing or two."

Leo whistled and clapped with approval and Percy had a feeling if there were some demigods from Camp Half-Blood, they would join in.

"Read on, Tool Boy" Piper waved him off, but she was clearly pleased with herself.

Whatever happened, Percy would get it out of her.

**"Trust me," I said. "I'll see you there."**

**I hung up. My hands were trembling. I wasn't sure if it was a leftover reaction from my dip in the Styx, or anticipation of what I was about to do. **

"Both, probably."

**If this didn't work, being invulnerable wasn't going to save me from getting blasted to bits.**

"That's assuring."

**It was late afternoon when the taxi dropped me at the Empire State Building. Mrs. O'Leary bounded up and down Fifth Avenue, licking cabs and sniffing hot dog carts.**

Chuckles followed the sentence.

**Nobody seemed to notice her, although people did swerve away and look confused when she came close.**

"Wonder what they saw."

**I whistled for her to heel as three white vans pulled up to the curb. **

"That's so exciting" whispered an eleven-year-old demigod.

**They said Delphi Strawberry Service, which was the cover name for Camp Half-Blood. I'd never seen all three vans in the same place at once, though I knew they shuttled our fresh produce into the city.**

The tension seemed to suddenly run high when each person apprehended it was _the_ begging.

**The first van was driven by Argus, our many-eyed security chief.**

"At least you know he keep an eye or two on the road."

**The other two were driven by harpies, who are basically demonic human/chicken hybrids with bad attitudes. **

The Romans looked appalled.

**We used the harpies mostly for cleaning the camp, but they did pretty well in midtown traffic too.**

A few giggled at the mental image.

**The doors slid open. A bunch of campers climbed out, some of them looking a little green from the long drive. I was glad so many had come: Pollux, Silena Beauregard, the Stoll brothers, Michael Yew, Jake Mason, Katie Gardner, and Annabeth, along with most of their siblings. **

Percy smiled at the memory, but something tugged at his insides. Each name jogged a different memory and feeling. He had literally forgotten it all and now it returned with whole force; the reminder of the deaths especially stirred up some unpleasant emotions that hit him hard.

As though sensing it, Annabeth nudged him worriedly.

A few seats away Piper moved in anticipation in her chair. She almost gasped at Silena's name, but resisted herself in the last moment, scolding for not predicting it. She knew she would be there, and yet it caught her by surprise.

**Chiron came out of the van last. His horse half was compacted into his magic wheelchair, so he used the handicap lift.**

"Cool."

**The Ares cabin wasn't here, but I tried not to get too angry about that. Clarisse was a stubborn idiot. End of story.**

Romans were outraged at the Ares cabin, though no one as much as the children of Mars. Angry muttering spread around the Forum and Leo had trouble being heard above the noise.

**I did a head count: forty campers in all.**

Jason chocked up.

"Excuse me?" said Ramona. "_Forty in all?"_

Piper and Leo appeared gobsmacked and the Romans were taken aback.

"No way" breathed out Andrea.

**Not many to fight a war, but it was still the largest group of halfbloods I'd ever seen gathered in one place outside camp. **

Diana placed a hand on her mouth and gazed around solemnly. Many looked sympathetic, too.

**Everyone looked nervous, and I understood why. We were probably sending out so much demigod aura that every monster in the northeastern United States knew we were here.**

"So, just what you needed."

**As I looked at their faces-all these campers I'd known for so many summers-a nagging voice whispered in my mind: One of them is a spy.**

Piper squeezed her eyes shut. Percy and Annabeth shared a look.

**But I couldn't dwell on that. They were my friends. I needed them. **

Some smiled at Percy in appreciation.

**Then I remembered Kronos's evil smile. You can't count on friends. They will always let you down.**

Annabeth fumed.

"That's not true!" gasped Hazel.

"Yeah. It's not" agreed Percy.

**Annabeth came up to me. She was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder-ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.**

The described girl snorted.

**She frowned. "What is it?"**

**"What's what?" I asked.**

**"You're looking at me funny."**

**I realized I was thinking about my strange vision of Annabeth pulling me out of the Styx River. **

"AWWW."

**"It's, uh, nothing." I turned to the rest of the group.**

"They _so_ knew what he was thinking about."

"You sure about it?"

"…well, not literally. But they knew he was thinking about her in _that_ way!"

**"Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."**

**My old mentor shook his head. **

"Huh?"

**"I came to wish you luck, my boy. But I make it a point never to visit Olympus unless I am summoned."**

**"But you're our leader."**

**He smiled. "I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help. Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are the leader."**

Fuzzy and warm feelings he would never admit to having stirred up in Percy.

**I wanted to protest, but everybody was looking at me expectantly, even Annabeth.**

"That's saying something."

**I took a deep breath. "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we can't take no for an answer."**

"You. Are. Bonkers. Completely bonkers."

"With such disrespect!" cried Octavian. "That's… that's…"

Piper's eyes bore in him, causing him to stutter. He tried to open his mouth and continue, but obviously, she scared the shit out of him (Percy had to find out about this), so he clenched his jaw and crossed arms.

"I'd like to see that," mumbled Jason to his girlfriend, imaging his father's face.

**I asked Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary, which neither of them looked happy about.**

**Chiron shook my hand. "You'll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses."**

"That's so sweet how much he trusts you" a daughter of Venus twirled hair around her finger.

**It sounded eerily close to what Achilles had told me. Then I remembered Chiron had taught Achilles. That didn't exactly reassure me, but I nodded and tried to give him a confident smile.**

Leo snorted.

**"Let's go," I told the campers.**

**A security guard was sitting behind the desk in the lobby, reading a big black book with a flower on the cover. He glanced up when we all filed in with our weapons and armor clanking. "School group? We're about to close up."**

Ramona mouthed '_what'_ and made a movement with hands as though her head exploded.

**"No," I said. "Six-hundredth floor."**

"So, that's where Olympus is!"

Understandably, the Romans were excited to find out location of Olympus. A few 'ooh' and 'aah' were heard and everyone turned animatedly to their friends, some even gasped or squealed. The Greeks grinned.

**He checked us out. His eyes were pale blue and his head was completely bald. I couldn't tell if he was human or not, but he seemed to notice our weapons, so I guess he wasn't fooled by the Mist.**

**"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." He said it like it was a required line he didn't believe. "Move along."**

"You notice surprisingly good amount of details," said Annabeth, narrowing her eyes.

He grinned lopsidedly at her.

**I leaned across the desk. "Forty demigods attract an awful lot of monsters. You really want us hanging out in your lobby?"**

Soft laughter sounded around the Forum.

**He thought about that. Then he hit a buzzer and the security gate swung open. "Make it quick."**

**"You don't want us going through the metal detectors," I added.**

"Well, aren't you demanding" mocked Ramona. Leo grinned as if he agreed with her.

**"Um, no," he agreed. "Elevator on the right. I guess you know the way."**

"Are really there so often he knows you?" said Frank.

The Romans shook heads in disbelieve at his shrug.

**I tossed him a golden drachma and we marched ill rough. We decided it would take two trips to get everybody up in the elevator. **

"They won't know what hit them" snickered Leo.

**I went with the first group. Different elevator music was playing since my last visit-that old disco song "Stayin' Alive." A terrifying image flashed through my mind of Apollo in bell-bottom pants and a slinky silk shirt.**

Everyone bursted out laughing.

**I was glad when the elevator doors finally dinged open. In front of us, a path of floating stones led through the clouds up to Mount Olympus, hovering six thousand feet over Manhattan.**

**I'd seen Olympus several times, **

"Jealous" murmured a Roman.

**but it still took my breath away. The mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain.**

**Gardens bloomed on a hundred terraces. Scented smoke rose from braziers that lined the winding streets. And right at the top of the snow-capped crest rose the main palace of the gods. It looked as majestic as ever, but something seemed wrong. Then I realized the mountain was silent-no music, no voices, no laughter.**

"Whoa."

"It looks better now" Percy winked at Annabeth. She rolled her eyes.

"It's not finished yet" but she couldn't keep a smile off her face.

**Annabeth studied me. "You look . . . different," she decided. "Where exactly did you go?"**

**The elevator doors opened again, and the second group of halfbloods joined us.**

**"Tell you later," I said. "Come on."**

**We made our way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus.**

**The shops were closed. **

"There are shops?" said startled Hazel.

**The parks were empty. A couple of Muses sat on a bench strumming flaming lyres, but their hearts didn't seem to be in it. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree.**

**A minor godling spotted us from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.**

"Warm welcome, I see."

**We passed under a big marble archway with statues of Zeus and Hera on either side. Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.**

As she did now. Piper grinned at the similarity.

**"Hate her," she muttered.**

Reyna looked at her sharply and some of the gathered sucked in a breath.

**"Has she been cursing you or something?" I asked. Last year Annabeth had gotten on Hera's bad side, but Annabeth hadn't really talked about it since.**

**"Just little stuff so far," she said. "Her sacred animal is the cow, right?"**

**"Right."**

"I see where this is going."

Annabeth glared at the amused demigods.

**"So she sends cows after me."**

Most of the people giggled.

**I tried not to smile. "Cows? In San Francisco?"**

**"Oh, yeah. Usually I don't see them, but the cows leave me little presents all over the place-in our backyard, on the sidewalk, in the school hallways. I have to be careful where I step."**

At this, almost no one could contain their laughter.

**"Look!" Pollux cried, pointing toward the horizon. "What is that?"**

**We all froze. Blue lights were streaking across the evening sky toward Olympus like tiny comets. They seemed to be coming from all over the city, heading straight toward the mountain. As they got close, they fizzled out. We watched them for several minutes and they didn't seem to do any damage, but still it was strange.**

"Indeed" said Andrea thoughtfully.

**"Like infrared scopes," Michael Yew muttered. "We're being targeted."**

**"Let's get to the palace," I said.**

**No one was guarding the hall of the gods. The gold-and-silver doors stood wide open. Our footsteps echoed as we walked into the throne room.**

**Of course, "room" doesn't really cover it. The place was the size of Madison Square Garden. **

Most appeared awed, only Octavian had a "no duh" face on. He didn't say it out loud, but anyone with half a brain would figure out that was what he was thinking.

**High above, the blue ceiling glittered with constellations. Twelve giant empty thrones stood in a U around a hearth. In one corner, a house-size globe of water hovered in the air, and inside swam my old friend the Ophiotaurus, half-cow, halfserpent.**

"You're friends with the Ophiotaurus" said flatly a son of Bellona.

"He has weird friends like that," said Annabeth.

**"Moooo!" he said happily, turning in a circle.**

**Despite all the serious stuff going on, I had to smile. Two years ago we'd spent a lot of time trying to save the Ophiotaurus from the Titans, and I'd gotten kind of fond of him. He seemed to like me too, even though I'd originally thought he was a girl and named him Bessie.**

Leo's voice shook with amusement, but he wouldn't have stopped if not for Reyna's hand and Jason's question.

"You named it _Bessie_?"

Both Romans, along with others, stared at Percy

"It seemed like a cow name to me at the time!" he raised his hands.

"Don't try to find sense," advised them Annabeth. "Just read."

**"Hey, man," I said. "They treating you okay?"**

**"Mooo," Bessie answered.**

**We walked toward the thrones, and a woman's voice said, "Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome."**

**Hestia stood by the hearth, poking the flames with a stick. She wore the same kind of simple brown dress as she had before, but she was a grown woman now.**

**I bowed. "Lady Hestia."**

**My friends followed my example.**

**Hestia regarded me with her red glowing eyes. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."**

"Well, this is a way to break it to them, too" said lightly Ramona.

**The other campers started muttering among themselves: What did she say? What about Achilles?**

**"You must be careful," Hestia warned me. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order."**

**Annabeth nudged me. "Um . . . what is she talking about?"**

"That's rare – Annabeth who asks me about what's going on" Percy raised an eyebrow at her.

**I stared into Hestia's eyes, and an image rushed into my mind: I saw a dark alley between red brick warehouses. A sign above one of the doors read RICHMOND IRONWORKS.**

"Errr…?"

**Two half-bloods crouched in the shadows-a boy about fourteen and a girl about twelve. I realized with a start that the boy was Luke. The girl was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.**

Jason flinched, not expecting any mention of his sister. He recalled something that she knew Percy, but he thought she was a Hunter at the time she met him, so didn't like him much. Therefore, he somehow made an assumption she didn't take part in the war – or rather didn't take her under consideration. Obviously, he was wrong.

**I was seeing a scene from back in the days when they were on the run, before Grover found them. Luke carried a bronze knife. Thalia had her spear and shield of terror, Aegis. Luke and Thalia both looked hungry and lean, with wild animal eyes, like they were used to being attacked.**

Annabeth bit her lip. Her boyfriend pulled her to his side, not really knowing what else he should do.

**"Are you sure?" Thalia asked.**

**Luke nodded. "Something down here. I sense it."**

**A rumble echoed from the alley, like someone had banged on a sheet of metal. The half-bloods crept forward.**

**Old crates were stacked on a loading dock. Thalia and Luke approached with their weapons ready. A curtain of corrugated tin quivered as if something were behind it.**

**Thalia glanced at Luke. He counted silently: One, two, three! He ripped away the tin, and a little girl flew at him with a hammer.**

Leo did a double take, like he didn't believe he'd just read that.

**"Whoa!" Luke said.**

**The girl had tangled blond hair and was wearing flannel pajamas. She couldn't have been more than seven, but she would've brained Luke if he hadn't been so fast.**

Hazel slowly turned to Annabeth.

**He grabbed her wrist, and the hammer skittered across the cement. The little girl fought and kicked. "No more monsters! Go away!"**

**"It's okay!" Luke struggled to hold her. "Thalia, put your shield up. You're scaring her."**

**Thalia tapped Aegis, and it shrank into a silver bracelet. "Hey, it's all right," she said. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke."**

**"Monsters!"**

"Aww" a few children of Venus coed sadly.

**"No," Luke promised. "But we know all about monsters. We fight them too."**

**Slowly, the girl stopped kicking. She studied Luke and Thalia with large intelligent gray eyes.**

At the mention of the eyes, more people turned to Annabeth.

**"You're like me?" she said suspiciously.**

**"Yeah," Luke said. "We're . . . well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"**

**"My family hates me," the girl said. "They don't want me. I ran away."**

Annabeth squirmed and glared at her shoes, hating the pity and sympathy in everyone's eyes. Okay, they didn't know it was her, but still.

**Thalia and Luke locked eyes. I knew they both related to what she was saying.**

**"What's your name, kiddo?" Thalia asked.**

**"Annabeth."**

Leo said the name with hesitance. Now, everyone looked at Annabeth.

"What?" she snapped. They quickly turned away.

**Luke smiled. "Nice name. I tell you what, Annabeth-you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."**

**Annabeth's eyes widened. "You could?"**

**"Oh, yeah." Luke turned his knife and offered her the handle.**

A lump appeared in her throat.

It was hard to believe he had once been like that – so nice and sincere.

**"How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."**

A few people snorted.

**Maybe under most circumstances, offering a seven-year-old kid a knife would not be a good idea, but when you're a half-blood, regular rules kind of go out the window.**

"True."

**Annabeth gripped the hilt.**

**"Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," Luke explained. "They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."**

"Again, true."

**Annabeth stared at him with adoration. "I am!"**

**Thalia grinned. "We'd better get going, Annabeth. We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."**

**"You're . . . you're not going to take me back to my family?" she said. "Promise?"**

**Luke put his hand on her shoulder. "You're part of our family now. And I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"**

Annabeth blinked rapidly, though her face was guarded. Percy looked at her helplessly.

**"Deal!" Annabeth said happily.**

**"Now, come on," Thalia said. "We can't stay put for long!"**

**The scene shifted. The three demigods were running through the woods. It must've been several days later, maybe even weeks. All of them looked beat up, like they'd seen some battles. Annabeth was wearing new clothes-jeans and an oversize army jacket.**

**"Just a little farther!" Luke promised. Annabeth stumbled, and he took her hand. Thalia brought up the rear, brandishing her shield like she was driving back whatever pursued them. She was limping on her left leg.**

Jason cringed.

**They scrambled to a ridge and looked down the other side at a white Colonial house-May Castellan's place.**

**"All right," Luke said, breathing hard. "I'll just sneak in and grab some food and medicine. Wait here."**

**"Luke, are you sure?" Thalia asked. "You swore you'd never come back here. If she catches you-"**

**"We don't have a choice!" he growled. "They burned our nearest safe house. And you've got to treat that leg wound."**

**"This is your house?" Annabeth said with amazement.**

**"It was my house," Luke muttered. "Believe me, if it wasn't an emergency-"**

**"Is your mom really horrible?" Annabeth asked. "Can we see her?"**

**"No!" Luke snapped.**

**Annabeth shrank away from him as though his anger surprised her.**

**"I . . . I'm sorry," he said. "Just wait here. I promise everything will be okay. Nothing's going to hurt you. I'll be back-"**

**A brilliant golden flash illuminated the woods. The demigods winced, and a man's voiceboomed: "You should not have come home."**

**The vision shut off.**

Leo glanced up nervously, noting the lack of interruptions. Everyone seemed too engaged in the story or too intimidated by Annabeth to comment.

**My knees buckled, but Annabeth grabbed me. "Percy! What happened?"**

**"Did . . . did you see that?" I asked.**

"Why would she ask then?"

**"See what?"**

**I glanced at Hestia, but the goddess's face was expressionless. I remembered something she'd told me in the woods: If you are to understand your enemy Luke, you must understand his family. But why had she shown me those scenes?**

"Yeah" said Andrea. "Why these particular ones?"

Everyone looked at each other, clueless.

**"How long was I out?" I muttered.**

**Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "Percy, you weren't out at all. You just looked at Hestia for like one second and collapsed."**

**I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I couldn't afford to look weak.**

His girlfriend sighed and nudged him.

"You're just human, you are allowed to feel like that sometimes."

"Half human, to be exact."

She smacked his arm, noticing with satisfaction no curse saved him now.

**Whatever those visions meant, I had to stay focused on our mission.**

**"Um, Lady Hestia," I said, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see-"**

**"We know what you need," a man's voice said. I shuddered, because it was the same voice I'd heard in the vision. **

No one figured that would be the case and everyone seemed disconcerted.

**A god shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and elfish features. He wore a military pilot's flight suit, with tiny bird's wings fluttering on his helmet and his black leather boots. In the crook of his arm was a long staff entwined with two living serpents.**

The children of Mercury hung on every word, soaking in the description of their father they'd never seen.

**"I will leave you now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator and disappeared into smoke. I understood why she was so anxious to go. Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not look happy.**

"No shit."

**"Hello, Percy." His brow furrowed as though he was annoyed with me, and I wondered if he somehow knew about the vision I'd just had. I wanted to ask why he'd been in May Castellan's house that night, and what had happened after he caught Luke. **

"Not a smart move."

**I remembered the first time I'd met Luke at Camp Half-Blood. I'd asked him if he'd ever met his father, and he'd looked at me bitterly and said, Once. But I could tell from Hermes's expression that this was not the time to ask.**

**I bowed awkwardly. "Lord Hermes."**

**Oh, sure, one of the snakes said in my mind. Don't say hi to us. We're just reptiles.**

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Excuse me?"

**George, the other snake scolded. Be polite.**

**"Hello, George," I said. "Hey, Martha."**

"You know what, Percy?" said Ramona. "I reached my limit of surprises. I'll just stop being surprised that you know everyone, been everywhere and fought everything, okay?"

"Uh, go ahead" he said awkwardly.

His friends snickered at him.

**Did you bring us a rat? George asked.**

**George, stop it, Martha said. He's busy!**

**Too busy for rats? George said. That's just sad.**

Everyone sniggered.

**I decided it was better not to get into it with George. "Um, Hermes," I said. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."**

Jason's hand collided with his head.

"Seriously, Percy?" he groaned. "You had to?"

He answered with a sheepish smile. So maybe that wasn't his smartest move... shit happens, he told himself.

**Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"**

**Behind me, the other demigods shifted restlessly. This wasn't going as planned. Maybe if I tried to speak with Hermes in private . . .**

**"You guys," I said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth and me back here in thirty minutes."**

**Silena frowned. "But-"**

**"That's a good idea," Annabeth said. "Connor and Travis, you two lead."**

"Really?" Piper turned to Annabeth. "_The Stolls?"_

"Yes."

Piper waited, but she didn't say anything more.

**The Stolls seemed to like that-getting handed an important responsibility right in front of their dad. They usually never led anything except toilet paper raids. "We're on it!" Travis said. They herded the others out of the throne room, leaving Annabeth and me with Hermes.**

"Oooh!"

Two girls grinned at each other.

**"My lord," Annabeth said. "Kronos is going to attack New York. You must suspect that. My mother must have foreseen it."**

**"Your mother," Hermes grumbled. He scratched his back with his caduceus, and George and Martha muttered Ow, ow, ow. **

Everyone let out nervous chuckles.

**"Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. Zeus didn't want any of us to leave the front line. But your mother kept pestering him nonstop, 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.' She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent me to talk to you."**

Some demigods' ADHD got the better of them and they had to stand up, whilst other tugged at their hair.

"Oh, come on!" said loudly Leo, staring at the pages. "It's right before your noses!"

"If they just listened to Athena… she always knows better," muttered Annabeth.

For once, the Romans agreed.

**"But it is a trap!" Annabeth insisted. "Is Zeus blind?"**

The people winced, foreseeing what would happen.

**Thunder rolled through the sky.**

"Gee, I wonder why."

**"I'd watch the comments, girl," Hermes warned. "Zeus is not blind or deaf. He has not left Olympus completely undefended."**

**"But there are these blue lights-"**

**"Yes, yes. I saw them. Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate, I'd wager, but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage. **

"Really, now?"

"If the damage was obvious, then everyone would rush to stop it. _Honestly_, it's a _trap_. It's supposed to look harmlessly!" said Annabeth.

"Um…" Percy eyed her cautiously. "You know there's no point in getting mad, now?"

He just shrugged and tore his gaze away when she glared.

**Olympus has strong magical wards. Besides, Aeolus, **

The three demigods cringed at the name.

**the King of the Winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard the citadel. No one save the gods can approach Olympus from the air. They would be knocked out of the sky."**

"Oh, he's so helpful now, isn't he?" mumbled Leo.

"Too bad he's not so nice more often" agreed Piper.

**I raised my hand. "Um . . . what about that materializing/teleporting thing you guys do?"**

**"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson. Very fast, but the wind gods are faster. No, if Kronos wants Olympus, he'll have to march through the entire city with his army and take the elevators! Can you see him doing this?"**

Collective face-palm is the only thing that could describe what happened.

"Is this some kind of joke?" said Reyna disbelievingly.

"This… this is just lame," said Ramona.

"These are supposed to be the all-mighty Olympians?" said Gwen, unimpressed.

Percy and Annabeth watched calmly at the incredulous listeners; even Octavian seemed disappointed in the gods. They just nodded 'yes, he said just that' and shook heads 'no, it's not a joke'.

"To be fair" said Percy quietly. "They asked for it."

"Oh, they did. They really did."

**Hermes made it sound pretty ridiculous-hordes of monsters going up in the elevator twenty at a time, listening to "Stayin' Alive." Still, I didn't like it.**

**"Maybe just a few of you could come back," I suggested.**

**Hermes shook his head impatiently. "Percy Jackson, you don't understand. Typhon is our greatest enemy."**

**"I thought that was Kronos."**

**The god's eyes glowed. "No, Percy. In the old days, Olympus was almost overthrown by Typhon. He is husband of Echidna-"**

**"Met her at the Arch," I muttered. "Not nice."**

"Oh, yes," said Ramona loudly. "I just knew you would say it. Obviously. I'm totally not surprised that you fought _yet another_ powerful historical figure."

"Good for you?"

**"-and the father of all monsters. We can never forget how close he came to destroying us all; how he humiliated us! We were more powerful back in the old days. Now we can expect no help from Poseidon because he's fighting his own war. Hades sits in his realm and does nothing, and Demeter and Persephone follow his lead. It will take all our remaining power to oppose the storm giant. We can't divide our forces, nor wait until he gets to New York. We have to battle him now. And we're making progress."**

"Okay" said a Roman girl. "That doesn't sound good."

"No duh!"

**"Progress?" I said. "He nearly destroyed St. Louis."**

**"Yes," Hermes admitted. "But he destroyed only half of Kentucky. **

"Oh, so it's good, then! Only _half_."

**He's slowing down. Losing power."**

**I didn't want to argue, but it sounded like Hermes was trying to convince himself.**

"Just great."

**In the corner, the Ophiotaurus mooed sadly.**

"Aww…"

**"Please, Hermes," Annabeth said. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"**

**"Messages," he muttered. "'It'll be a great job,' they told me. 'Not much work. Lots of worshippers.' Hmph. Nobody cares what I have to say. It's always about other people's messages."**

"Uhh, okay?" said Frank.

"Get used to it" said Percy.

"They use every chance they get to wallow in self-pity" agreed Annabeth.

**Rodents, George mused. I'm in it for the rodents.**

Demigods chuckled at the snake.

**Shhh, Martha scolded. We care what Hermes has to say. Don't we, George?**

**Oh, absolutely. Can we go back to the battle now? I want to do laser mode again. That's fun.**

**"Quiet, both of you," Hermes grumbled.**

**The god looked at Annabeth, who was doing her big-pleading-gray eyes thing.**

"Is that so?" grinned Piper.

The two girls shared another knowing and smug look; there was potential for a great friendship, Piper decided. Annabeth may seem intimidating, but it appears she uses the same tricks as her.

**"Bah," Hermes said. "Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods. As if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."**

"Gods get paid?" Hazel scrunched her eyebrows.

**"Anything else?" Annabeth asked.**

**"She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant."**

The Romans were at loss of words. Seriously? Plan twenty-three?

**Annabeth's face paled. Obviously she knew what it meant, and she didn't like it. "Go on."**

**"Last thing." Hermes looked at me. "She said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers.' And, um, something about staying away from her daughter."**

Children of Venus giggled.

"And look how that turned out" Ramona wiggled her eyebrows.

**I'm not sure whose face was redder: Annabeth's or mine.**

**"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said. "And I . . . I wanted to say . . . I'm sorry about Luke."**

Annabeth again bit in her lip as some people hissed and winced.

**The god's expression hardened like he'd turned to marble. "You should've left that subject alone."**

**Annabeth stepped back nervously. "Sorry?"**

**"SORRY doesn't cut it!"**

**George and Martha curled around the caduceus, which shimmered and changed into something that looked suspiciously like a highvoltage cattle prod.**

**"You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growled at Annabeth. "You're the only one who could have."**

A few teenagers gasped in astonishment.

"How could he say it?" whispered Hazel to her boyfriend, so Annabeth wouldn't hear it.

**I tried to step between them. "What are you talking about? Annabeth didn't-"**

**"Don't defend her, Jackson!" Hermes turned the cattle prod toward me. "She knows exactly what I'm talking about."**

**"Maybe you should blame yourself!"**

Everyone groaned.

**I should've kept my mouth shut, **

"You don't say?"

**but all I could think about was turning his attention away from Annabeth. **

Instantly, a lot of people softened and coed, causing Percy to drop his head on Annabeth's shoulder with a groan.

**This whole time, he hadn't been angry with me. He'd been angry with her. "Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"**

**Hermes raised his cattle prod. He began to grow until he was ten feet tall. I thought, Well, that's it.**

"Always so casual."

**But as he prepared to strike, George and Martha leaned in close and whispered something in his ear. Hermes clenched his teeth. He lowered the cattle prod, and it turned back to a staff.**

"Good snakes" Hazel breathed out in relieve.

**"Percy Jackson," he said, "because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much-" His voice broke, and he shrank back to human size. "My son, my greatest pride . . . my poor May . . ."**

No one dared to comment, but there was no need. Many covered their mouths with hands, others just stared at the book with pity radiating off them.

"Oh" said quietly Ramona.

**He sounded so devastated I didn't know what to say. One minute he was ready to vaporize us. Now he looked like he needed a hug.**

Some snorted sadly.

**"Look, Lord Hermes," I said. "I'm sorry, but I need to know. What happened to May? She said something about Luke's fate, and her eyes-"**

**Hermes glared at me, and my voice faltered. The look on his face wasn't really anger, though. It was pain. Deep, incredible pain.**

"This is… it's so…" Diana tried to put her emotions in words, but for once, she was lost.

**"I will leave you now," he said tightly. "I have a war to fight."**

**He began to shine. I turned away and made sure Annabeth did the same, because she was still frozen in shock.**

No one even thought about commenting on it.

**Good luck, Percy, Martha the snake whispered.**

Percy smiled to himself. After it all ends… after the war… he'll get these snakes big, fat rats.

**Hermes glowed with the light of a supernova. Then he was gone.**

**Annabeth sat at the foot of her mother's throne and cried. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure how.**

Right now, though, she looked more livid that everyone found out about her moment of weakness than pitiful.

**"Annabeth," I said, "it's not your fault. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess . . . I don't know . . . he probably feels guilty about Luke. He's looking for somebody to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."**

"Not going to work" murmured Reyna.

**Annabeth wiped her eyes. She stared at the hearth like it was her own funeral pyre.**

**I shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't, right?"**

Hazel slapped him lightly.

"That's not time for that question!"

**She didn't answer. Her Celestial bronze knife was strapped to her arm-the same knife I'd seen in Hestia's vision. All these years, I hadn't realized it was a gift from Luke. I'd asked her many times why she preferred to fight with a knife instead of a sword, and she'd never answered me. Now I knew.**

She played with her new knife now, then turned to Percy who was watching her intently.

"Don't look at me like that," she whispered. "I'm fine."

"Okay" he said simply, still focused on her.

They stared each other down for a second, but she finally sighed and leaned her head on his arm. It was more comfortable that way than in reverse, because she actually had her head about on the height of his shoulder, which Percy secretly adored.

**"Percy," she said. "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"**

**I nodded reluctantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little . . . different." I described May Castellan, and the weird moment when her eyes had started to glow and she talked about her son's fate.**

**Annabeth frowned. "That doesn't make sense. But why were you visiting-" Her eyes widened. **

"And she figured it out."

**"Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you . . . did you bathe in the River Styx?"**

**"Don't change the subject."**

People bursted out laughing at this.

"Smooth Percy, smooth" chuckled Frank.

**"Percy! Did you or not?"**

**"Um . . . maybe a little."**

"A little?" repeated Leo with a wide grin. "_A little?"_

"And how do you bath 'a little', huh?" said Jason. "I'm honestly curious."

"Cut it out," said Percy, his cheeks pink.

**I told her the story about Hades and Nico, and how I'd defeated an army of the dead. **

"Yeah, it went like 'Hades had this army of the dead, so Nico helped me to defeat them and somehow we escaped,'" said Annabeth. "But now I know it doesn't cover it."

He shrugged.

"I'm not a great storyteller, sorry."

**I left out the vision of her pulling me out of the river. I still didn't quite understand that part, and just thinking about it made me embarrassed.**

"Awww."

A few girls giggled at him.

**She shook her head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"**

**"I had no choice," I said. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."**

**"You mean . . . di immortales, of course! That's why Luke didn't die. He went to the Styx and . . . Oh no, Luke. What were you thinking?"**

Many raised their eyebrows at her.

**"So now you're worried about Luke again," I grumbled.**

"Jeeealooous" sang Ramona and Diana in unison.

Annabeth nudged him with a grin.

**She stared at me like I'd just dropped from space. "What?"**

**"Forget it," I muttered. **

"You're dripping with jealousy."

**I wondered what Hermes had meant about Annabeth not saving Luke when she'd had the chance. Clearly, she wasn't telling me something. But at the moment I wasn't in the mood to ask. The last thing I wanted to hear about was more of her history with Luke.**

"Dripping? It's radiating off him."

"Yeah, it's so obvious, it's visible."

"Shut up."

**"The point is he didn't die in the Styx," I said. "Neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."**

**Annabeth was still studying my face, like she was trying to see differences since my swim in the Styx.**

"There was, believe me."

**"I guess you're right. My mom mentioned-"**

**"Plan twenty-three."**

**She rummaged in her pack and pulled out Daedalus's laptop. **

"Excuse me?" said Reyna.

Andrea stared with many others at Annabeth, wondering if "Daedalus" was just a term.

**The blue Delta symbol glowed on the top when she booted it up. She opened a few files and started to read.**

"Wait, is it really _the_ Daedalus's?"

Annabeth arched an eyebrow conceitedly.

"Was. It was his once, but not anymore."

One guy let out a weird, high moan of longing.

**"Here it is," she said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."**

**"One of Daedalus's inventions?"**

This time more knowledge-thirsty demigods groaned.

**"A lot of inventions . . . dangerous ones. If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad." **

"If they just listened to Athena" Frank shook his head.

**She looked at me. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?"**

**I shook my head. As usual, I had no clue what the gods were telling me. **

"Such is our lifestyle" put in Piper.

**Which rivers was I supposed to remember? The Styx? The Mississippi?**

**Just then the Stoll brothers ran in to the throne room.**

**"You need to see this," Connor said. "Now."**

"U-uh."

**The blue lights in the sky had stopped, so at first I didn't understand what the problem was. The other campers had gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. **

"Park at the edge of the mountain?"

"It _is_ Olympus."

**They were clustered at the guardrail, looking down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with those tourist binoculars, where you could deposit one golden drachma and see the city.**

**Campers were using every single one.**

"Bad, bad sign."

**I looked down at the city. I could see almost everything from here the East River and the Hudson River carving the shape of Manhattan, the grid of streets, the lights of skyscrapers, the dark stretch of Central Park in the north. Everything looked normal, but something was wrong. I felt it in my bones before I realized what it was.**

All the Romans held their breath in anticipation.

**"I don't . . . hear anything," Annabeth said.**

"That's bad?" whispered a girl who had never been to New York.

Everyone shushed her.

**That was the problem.**

**Even from this height, I should've heard the noise of the citymillions of people bustling around, thousands of cars and machinesthe hum of a huge metropolis. You don't think about it when you live in New York, but it's always there. Even in the dead of night, New York is never silent.**

"Wow."

"Okay, it's bad."

**But it was now.**

**I felt like my best friend had suddenly dropped dead.**

Annabeth looked up at him amusedly.

**"What did they do?" My voice sounded tight and angry. "What did they do to my city?"**

Percy's friends laughed silently at his overprotectiveness towards a _city_.

**I pushed Michael Yew away from the binoculars and took a look. In the streets below, traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks, or curled up in doorways. There was no sign of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that. It was as if all the people in New York had simply decided to stop whatever they were doing and pass out.**

"There is a book like that wher…"

"SHHHHH!"

"Gee, fine…"

**"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.**

**Ice coated my stomach. A line from the prophecy rang in my ears: And see the world in endless sleep. **

"Oh!"

It was like the last piece of puzzle fit in. Understanding dawned on everyone and then dread when they realized there was a huge full-on battle with monsters and weapons about to start around these helpless people.

**I remembered Grover's story about meeting the god Morpheus in Central Park. You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event.**

**"Not dead," I said. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."**

Leo let out a breath and glanced up.

"And?" prompted him Ramona.

Once again, everyone was leaning on the edge of their seats.

"That's the end. Who reads now?"

**Aah, late again!**

**Confession time: I'm really bad with deadlines. This is a little rushed and I'm really, really sorry about any errors. On Thursday, I could swear I have another week to finish the chapter (or even start it) and then my phone goes off with "fanfic update". I wasn't able to write it all that day, and then I was really busy, so here you are a few days later once again.**

**I hope it's not that bad. Sorry!**

**Anyway, here, have a big fat THANK YOU. Your reviews give me life, guys, please keep it up. Criticism, advise, opinion – anything. Just write it in this box down there and make me a happy writer :)**

**Thanks for reading, I'll try to get chapter 7 in time.**

**Love, Ronnie**


	7. 5 I BUY SOME NEW FRIENDS

"Ugh!" everyone groaned loudly, annoyed at the cliffhangers.

"C'mon, read people" huffed Ramona.

"You read, then" Leo tossed her the book.

She flinched, nearly dropping it and looked around hoping for another volunteer. Instead, she saw a lot of eyes staring at her in expectation. She sighed and opened the book, too eager to read herself to put up a fight and waste time.

"**I BUY SOME NEW FRIENDS"** she said quickly, having resisted the urge to peak at the paper that seemed to amuse every person who had taken it out of the book. "Huh, didn't take you for that type, Percy."

The boy in question rolled his eyes.

**Mrs. O'Leary was the only one happy about the sleeping city. We found her pigging out at an overturned hot dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking his thumb.**

The idea made everyone chuckle, but quietly, as to not disturb the reading.

**Argus was waiting for us with his hundred eyes wide open. He didn't say anything. He never does. I guess that's because he supposedly has an eyeball on his tongue. **

The people tried to stifle a laugh.

"And you're thinking about it, _now_?" said Annabeth raising her eyes to the sky.

**But his face made it clear he was freaking out.**

"Bad sign" muttered Leo, who remembered Argus did anything but freak out.

**I told him what we'd learned in Olympus, and how the gods would not be riding to the rescue. Argus rolled his eyes in disgust, which looked pretty psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl.**

"Uhh."

Hazel scrunched up her nose.

**"You'd better get back to camp," I told him. "Guard it as best you can."**

"Good" nodded Reyna. "You cannot leave the camp unguarded."

"No shit" mumbled Percy under his breath, earning an elbow in the ribs from his girlfriend.

**He pointed at me and raised his eyebrow quizzically.**

**"I'm staying," I said.**

**Argus nodded, like this answer satisfied him. He looked at Annabeth and drew a circle in the air with his finger.**

**"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "I think it's time."**

"I love how they speak with him."

"I wouldn't understand what he means."

"Me neither."

**"For what?" I asked.**

**Argus rummaged around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue-the same kind of round shield we always used in capture the flag. **

"Capture the flag?" perked up a son of Bellona.

"Not now" hushed him his friend.

**But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty-which wasn't anywhere close to us.**

"Whoa!"

Murmurs of appreciation spread around the Romans.

**"Whoa," I said. "A video shield."**

**"One of Daedalus's ideas," Annabeth said. "I had Beckendorf make this before-" She glanced at Silena. **

"Before what?" frowned Andrea.

"Before he died," said Percy staring at the ground. "He's the one who blew up the _Princess Andromeda_."

The spirit dropped a little bit as the Romans realized the Greeks lost many lives to the war, too.

"And Silena…" prompted carefully Piper.

"She was wretched. They just got together before… you know" shrugged Annabeth uneasily.

**"Um, anyway, the shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."**

Leo's mouth watered just at the thought of such an awesome mechanism. That Deadalus guy would be his hero from now on (sorry, Percy) and he was _so_ going to bug Annabeth about his plans and ideas.

"Mm, gimme one" he groaned longingly.

Annabeth straightened in her seat smugly.

**We crowded around as Annabeth concentrated. The image zoomed and spun at first, so I got motion sickness just watching it. **

Annabeth smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.

**We were in the Central Park Zoo, then zooming down East 60th, past Bloomingdale's, then turning on Third Avenue.**

"Cool!"

Leo gave an inarticulate whimper, waving his hands like he wished to get the shield out of thin air.

**"Whoa," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there."**

**"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?"**

Everyone held their breath reflexively.

**"No, right there-Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"**

Many demigods protested in disbelieve although Percy noticed some didn't put as much enthusiasm in it as others. Actually, he would go as far as saying they - mostly children of Mercury, it seemed - wished for an occasion like that, but one sharp look from Reyna washed all these thoughts away.

**"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like her mother, Demeter. **

"You would know" grumbled someone.

**"This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"**

**"Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed. **

Kids of Mercury grinned sneakily.

**Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield, and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park.**

"Why there?"

**"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said.**

"Right."

"It was kinda stupid to ask."

"I know."

**"Thank you, Argus. Hopefully we'll see you back at camp . . . someday."**

"Morbid much?" said Leo.

"Nah" said Piper sarcastically. "Why would they be?"

**Argus grunted. He gave me a look that clearly meant Good luck; you'll need it, **

"Seriously, you could use some optimism."

"Thanks for the oh-so-great advise, Leo. I'll keep in mind to be optimistic next time I face the end of the world."

"Not long, then" said Jason.

**then climbed into his van. He and the two harpy drivers **

"Harpy drivers" snickered quietly Leo.

Jason and Frank glanced at him oddly but Piper and Percy grinned and stuffed their giggles.

**swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road.**

**I whistled for Mrs. O'Leary, and she came bounding over.**

**"Hey, girl," I said. "You remember Grover? The satyr we met in the park?"**

"Awww, it's so sweet!"

"What, talking to objects that can't answer? I think you count it as mental illness."

"_ANIMALS ARE NOT OBJECTS_!" butted in another person.

As the first two speakers kept their voices low, you can imagine the sudden outburst appeared rather bizarre to the gathered teenagers.

**"WOOF!"**

"Is that a yes?"

"Go figure."

**I hoped that meant Sure I do! And not, Do you have more hot dogs?**

The people sniggered.

**"I need you to find him," I said. "Make sure he's still awake. We're going to need his help. You got that? Find Grover!"**

**Mrs. O'Leary gave me a sloppy wet kiss, **

"_Oh gods I'm dying._"

Many heads turned to the squealing girl.

"No, you're not," pointed out a person next to her.

The girl waved at him impatiently, indicating to ignore her and read on.

**which seemed kind of unnecessary. Then she raced off north.**

**Pollux crouched next to a sleeping policeman. "I don't get it. Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"**

"That's a good question," said Reyna.

**"This is a huge spell," Silena Beauregard said. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."**

Pride bubbled up in Piper and an involuntary smile graced her features. Children of Aphrodite weren't to be messed with and they had more to them than just good looks. If only she could show it her brainwashed siblings.

**I stared at her. "When did you learn so much about magic?"**

**Silena blushed. "I don't spend all my time on my wardrobe."**

"Ha" Piper said softly to herself.

**"Percy," Annabeth called. She was still looking at the shield. "You'd better see this."**

"I have a bad feeling."

**The bronze image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speedboats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. **

"U-uh."

**Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. **

"U-UH."

**At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped m the night wind. I'd never seen that design before, but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.**

"BIG U-UH."

"We get it, Leo."

**"Scan the perimeter of the island," I said. "Quick."**

**Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island Ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds.**

"Not good, not good at all" murmured Hazel worriedly.

**Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals. At first I thought they were dolphins. **

"They're not, 'm afraid."

**Then I saw their doglike faces and the swords strapped to their waists, and I realized they were telkhines-sea demons.**

The tension was once again running high; everyone sat at the edge of their seats, leaning towards Ramona. Reyna had an impassive face (so nothing new, here) but she sat still as a statue; Jason was frowning, hanging on every word; Frank put his arm around Hazel and she used his other one to squeeze - which was noticeable after one glance at his face - and Piper felt like biting on her nails out of stress. Even Leo quietened down.

Only Percy and Annabeth seemed unaffected as they were there when it all happened. If one looked closer, though, they would notice their joined hands held more meaning than just affectionate action that all the couples do, and their postures were stiff.

**The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons, and just to rub it in, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.**

"This got to be a joke," whispered horrified Gwen.

The crowd was once again moved but no one dared commenting too much at a moment like this.

**"What's happening with the mortals outside Manhattan?" I said. "Is the whole state asleep?"**

"No way," said Jason.

**Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's like a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."**

The faces around were priceless. More than one jaw dropped, some kids had eyes bulging out of their sockets. It seemed unbelievable.

**She showed me another scene-a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked awake, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.**

"Wow," laughed in bewilderment Piper.

"I wish I could've seen that," said Frank.

**"Kronos," I said. "He's slowing time."**

**"Hecate might be helping," Katie Gardner said. "Look how the cars are all veering away from the Manhattan exits, like they're getting a subconscious message to turn back."**

"This is like a foolproof plan," Reyna shook her head. "The whole Manhattan cut off, monsters coming from every side and only a bunch of demigods to defend it all."

"Fortunately for us, it wasn't all that foolproof," said Annabeth, grasping Percy's hand tighter.

Everyone nodded slowly, not wanting to know what would happen otherwise.

**"I don't know." Annabeth sounded really frustrated. She hated not knowing. "But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic. The outside world might not even realize something is wrong. Any mortals coming toward Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."**

"Guys, you were screwed. How did you get out of it?"

"Luck," Percy answered Piper at the same time as Annabeth said "Good planning and hard work."

They looked at each other.

"Okay" said Jason slowly.

"I guess luck goes for Percy and planning for Annabeth but how did others survive?" said Frank, still amazed.

"Some didn't" reminded him quietly Hazel.

Sensing gloomy mood, Ramona cleared her throat overly loud to gain attention.

**"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured.**

"I like amber."

"Good to know?"

**Annabeth nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help coming in."**

"Fantastic."

**I turned to my friends. They looked stunned and scared, and I couldn't blame them. **

"No one can," frowned Reyna.

**The shield had shown us at least three hundred enemies on the way. There were forty of us. And we were alone.**

"I would've pissed myself by now," it came out louder that the person meant it to be and many turned to the boy.

He stared at them, frozen in spot.

"Roman up!" said Reyna sternly after a pause and everyone turned back to Ramona.

**"All right," I said. "We're going to hold Manhattan."**

"Oh, right, no big deal."

**Silena tugged at her armor. "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."**

"No shit."

**"We are going to hold it," I said. "We have to."**

**"He's right," Annabeth said. "The gods of the wind should keep Kronos's forces away from Olympus by air, so he'll try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."**

"That's one shitty situation."

**"They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out.**

**An electric tingle went down my back. Suddenly I understood Athena's advice: Remember the rivers.**

"Uh, I still don't get it."

**"I'll take care of the boats," I said.**

**Michael frowned. "How?"**

"He's a Poseidon's kid, duh," said Leo loudly.

**"Just leave it to me," I said. "We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first try. That would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn- Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnel. Do whatever you have to do, but keep them out of there! Conner, take half of Hermes cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping for looting or pillaging!"**

Many Romans raised their eyebrows at Percy.

"What?"

"I'm beginning to think you sometimes just pretend to be stupid," said Reyna.

His friends couldn't keep themselves from snorting or chuckling.

"Nothing works better to catch someone off guard," he said easily, smiling.

**"Awwww!" the whole Hermes cabin complained.**

**"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel."**

**"Oh my gods," one of her sisters said. "Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters, like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."**

The children of Venus nodded eagerly, while some – like children of Mars – rolled their eyes.

**"No delays," I said. "Well . . . the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."**

Venus kids squealed and clapped lightly.

**Six Aphrodite girls kissed me on the cheek in excitement.**

At that, many guys whooped and wolf-whistled. Leo wiggled his eyebrows at Percy and his girl friends laughed.

**"All right, enough!" I closed my eyes, trying to think of what I'd forgotten. **

"That," said heatedly Piper. "That is self-control and that is how guys should act."

"Um, Pipes…?" Jason glanced at her uncertainly. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how most guys would take advantage of this situation or get really cocky about it while _they shouldn't_," he leaned slightly away from her.

Almost everyone stared at her blankly.

"Err…" said Leo.

"Sorry," she took a deep breath. "It just really irks me. Read on."

Most of the crowd only gawked at her weirdly but she caught Annabeth's pleased gaze and understanding passed between them.

**"The Holland Tunnel. Jake, take the Hephaestus cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got."**

**He grinned. "Gladly. We've got a score to settle. For Beckendorf!"**

Leo felt a pang in his chest as he smiled sadly.

**The whole cabin roared in approval.**

**"The 59th Street Bridge," I said. "Clarisse-"**

**I faltered. Clarisse wasn't here. The whole Ares cabin, curse them, was sitting back at camp.**

Angry muttering and fuming was heard from the children of Mars.

**"We'll take that," Annabeth stepped in, saving me from an embarrassing silence. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take the Athena cabin, activate plan twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."**

**"You got it."**

**"I'll go with Percy," she said. "Then we'll join you, or we'll go wherever we're needed."**

**Somebody in the back of the group said, "No detours, you two."**

Everyone laughed.

**There were some giggles, but I decided to let it pass.**

**"All right," I said. "Keep in touch with cell phones."**

"With what?"

"Umm, how do you explain what a cell phone is to someone who had never been outside ancient-like camp?"

"You don't. Shut up."

**"We don't have cell phones," Silena protested.**

**I reached down, picked up some snoring lady's BlackBerry, and tossed it to Silena. "You do now. **

"Percy!" said Hazel scandalized.

"I like how you think" laughed Leo as a Dakota high-fived Percy.

**You all know Annabeth's number, right? If you need us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."**

"Okay, seriously," Ramona interrupted herself. "I'm beginning to think you're just playing dumb."

Percy squirmed under all the stares.

"Pizza" he said.

Reyna narrowed her eyes at him.

"Uh-huh" Ramona nodded to herself. "It's all an act, I tell you."

"Or I _am_ dumb" said Percy.

"If you were, why would you fight us on that matter?" reckoned Reyna.

"Because I'm dumb?" he said less surely.

"Okay, leave him be" laughed Annabeth. "Just read, please."

**Everyone grinned as though they liked this idea.**

**Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone-"**

**"No, you can't keep it," I said.**

"Party pooper."

**"Aw, man."**

**"Hold it, Percy," Jake Mason said. "You forgot the Lincoln Tunnel."**

"Oops."

**I bit back a curse. He was right. A Sherman tank and a hundred monsters were marching through that tunnel right now, and I'd positioned our forces everywhere else.**

"Oh shit."

"You have to split the biggest cabins and mix them," said Reyna with her brows furrowed.

**Then a girl's voice called from across the street: "How about you leave that to us?"**

"Clarisse?" said Frank in surprise, but Percy and Annabeth shook their heads with grins.

**I'd never been happier to hear anyone in my life. Aband of thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. **

"Okay, I'm confused."

**They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants, and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs, and bows at the ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.**

"The hell, man?"

**The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess's tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.**

"I like her," said immediately Leo.

His friends rolled their eyes.

"You met her, idiot," muttered to him Piper.

**"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.**

Jason flinched. Well, he knew that moment would come but it still caused a flock of emotions to combust inside of him. And not every one of them was pleasant.

**The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."**

"Whoa," breathed Gwen.

Many Romans appeared awed at the girls.

**There were hugs and greetings all around . . . or at least Thalia was friendly. The other Hunters didn't like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot any of us, which for them was a pretty warm welcome.**

At that, admiration slipped from many faces making place for consternation.

**"Where have you been the last year?" I asked Thalia. "You've got like twice as many Hunters now!"**

"That's pretty good."

"It's good for you," said Reyna. "More people to fight."

**She laughed. "Long, long story. I bet my adventures were more dangerous than yours, Jackson."**

Jason shot Percy a look, wondering how close he was with his sister.

**"Complete lie," I said.**

**"We'll see," she promised. "After this is over, you, Annabeth, and me: cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on West 57th."**

"You're pretty close with her," Hazel voiced Jason's thought with a smile.

Percy couldn't keep a mix of fondness and wretchedness from his face.

"She's one of my best friends," he glanced at Annabeth who seemed to have similar inner struggle as him.

"We just don't see her as much," she added with a sigh.

They missed her as hell, that much anyone could tell. Jason fought down a small surge of jealousy.

**"Le Parker Meridien," I said.**

"She still owes us that cheeseburgers and fries," he said.

**"You're on. And Thalia, thanks."**

**She shrugged. "Those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"**

Everyone grinned, though no one wider than Jason, Percy and Annabeth.

**She slapped her silver bracelet, and the shield Aegis spiraled into full form. The golden head of Medusa molded in the center was so horrible, the campers all backed away. The Hunters took off down the avenue, followed by their wolves and falcons, and I had a feeling the Lincoln Tunnel would be safe for now.**

"Oh, definitely."

**"Thank the gods," Annabeth said. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."**

"Quick, Percy, quick!"

"You know that happened like a year ago?"

"Shhh!"

**"You're right," I said.**

**I looked at the campers, all of them grim and determined. I tried not to feel like this was the last time I'd ever see them all together.**

A shiver went up his spine. It was, actually. Many of them died then. But he also realized he may never see again these who had survived, too.

**"You're the greatest heroes of this millennium," I told them. **

For once, the Romans didn't protest, although Octavian had a sour face.

**"It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win." I raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"**

Everyone stilled in anticipation.

**They shouted in response, and our forty voices echoed off the buildings of Midtown. For a moment it sounded brave, but it died quickly in the silence of ten million sleeping New Yorkers.**

The tense atmosphere shifted to the one described in the book. Many held their breath and once again everyone fell into complete silence.

**Annabeth and I would've had our pick of cars, but they were all wedged in bumper-to-bumper traffic. None of the engines were running, which was weird. It seemed the drivers had had time to turn off the ignition before they got too sleepy. Or maybe Morpheus had the power to put engines to sleep as well. Most of the drivers had apparently tried to pull to the curb when they felt themselves passing out, but still the streets were too clogged to navigate.**

"That's problematic," stated quietly Reyna.

**Finally we found an unconscious courier leaning against a brick wall, still straddling his red Vespa. We dragged him off the scooter and laid him on the sidewalk.**

Children of Mercury couldn't keep slight smirks.

**"Sorry, dude," I said. With any luck, I'd be able to bring his scooter back. If I didn't, it would hardly matter, because the city would be destroyed.**

"Way to lighten the mood," mumbled Annabeth, holding tightly onto Percy's hand. He squeezed it even tighter.

**I drove with Annabeth behind me holding on to my waist. **

Percy looked up, ready for someone to make a snide comment on it but they were all too engaged in the story to care.

**We zigzagged down Broadway with our engine buzzing through the eerie calm. The only sounds were occasional cell phones ringing-like they were calling out to each other, as if New York had turned into a giant electronic aviary.**

"Wow," breathed out Piper.

**Our progress was slow. Every so often we'd come across pedestrians who'd fallen asleep right in front of a car, and we'd move them just to be safe. **

Some teenagers subconsciously nodded in approval.

**Once we stopped to extinguish a pretzel vendor's cart that had caught on fire. A few minutes later we had to rescue a baby carriage that was rolling aimlessly down the street. **

Someone gasped loudly.

**It turned out there was no baby in it-just somebody's sleeping poodle. Go figure.**

Annabeth bit back a giggle and no one could resist smiling a little bit.

**We parked it safely in a doorway and kept riding.**

**We were passing Madison Square Park when Annabeth said, "Pull over."**

And again, everyone tensed.

**I stopped in the middle of East 23rd. Annabeth jumped off and ran toward the park. By the time I caught up with her, she was staring at a bronze statue on a red marble pedestal. I'd probably passed it a million times but never really looked at it.**

"And what's so special in it?"

A few people shrugged.

**The dude was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. He wore an old-fashioned suit-Abraham Lincoln style-with a bow tie and long coattails and stuff. A bunch of bronze books were piled under his chair. He held a writing quill in one hand and a big metal sheet of parchment in the other.**

"Umm, okay," said slowly Leo. "And why do we care?"

**"Why do we care about . . ." I squinted at the name on the pedestal. "William H. Steward?"**

"My point, exactly."

**"Seward," Annabeth corrected. "He was a New York governor. Minor demigod-son of Hebe, I think. But that's not important. It's the statue I care about."**

"Yeah, that's cool but _why_?"

**She climbed on a park bench and examined the base of the statue.**

**"Don't tell me he's an automaton," I said.**

"Wait, what?" said Frank, confused.

**Annabeth smiled. "Turns out most of the statues in the city are automatons. Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."**

Jaws dropped.

"_Excuse me?"_ said Jason amazed.

**"To attack Olympus or defend it?"**

**Annabeth shrugged. "Either one. That was plan twenty-three. He could activate one statue and it would start activating its brethren all over the city, until there was an army. It's dangerous, though. You know how unpredictable automatons are."**

"Well, we don't," said Leo. "Enlighten us."

"It's a long story," Annabeth waved him off.

**"Uh-huh," I said. We'd had our share of bad experiences with them.**

"I want to hear that story."

**"You're seriously thinking about activating it?"**

**"I have Daedalus's notes," she said. "I think I can . . . Ah, here we go."**

"If it works…" Reyna trailed off.

**She pressed the tip of Seward's boot, and the statue stood up, its quill and paper ready.**

**"What's he going to do?" I muttered. "Take a memo?"**

Some snorted.

**"Shh," Annabeth. "Hello, William."**

**"Bill," I suggested.**

This time more giggles escaped teenagers.

**"Bill . . . Oh, shut up," Annabeth told me. The statue tilted its head, looking at us with blank metal eyes. Annabeth cleared her throat. "Hello, er, Governor Seward. Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Defend Manhattan. Begin Activation."**

"That sounds so cool," grinned Ramona.

**Seward jumped off his pedestal. He hit the ground so hard his shoes cracked the sidewalk. **

"That would make such a great movie!" said out of blue a daughter of Apollo. "Just imagine this scene and slow motion and _guuys_!"

"Maybe later," suggested her friend.

**Then he went clanking off toward the east.**

**"He's probably going to wake up Confucius," Annabeth guessed.**

"Confucius?"

**"What?" I said.**

**"Another statue, on Division. The point is, they'll keep waking each other up until they're all activated."**

"So, it'll take a while."

**"And then?"**

**"Hopefully, they defend Manhattan."**

"That's great," nodded Piper.

**"Do they know that we're not the enemy?"**

**"I think so."**

"Or not so much."

**"That's reassuring." I thought about all the bronze statues in the parks, plazas, and buildings of New York. There had to be hundreds, maybe thousands.**

"That would be just fan-freaking-tastic to fight the monsters, traitor demigods, Kronos _and_ them."

**Then a ball of green light exploded in the evening sky. Greek fire, somewhere over the East River.**

"Oh dear."

"Wait, what's Greek fire?"

**"We have to hurry," I said. And we ran for the Vespa.**

**We parked outside Battery Park, at the lower tip of Manhattan where the Hudson and East Rivers came together and emptied into the bay.**

**"Wait here," I told Annabeth.**

"And you're going where?"

**"Percy, you shouldn't go alone."**

"Yeah, you shouldn't," said Hazel worriedly.

**"Well, unless you can breathe underwater . . ."**

"Oooh, low blow!"

**She sighed. "You are so annoying sometimes."**

**"Like when I'm right? Trust me, I'll be fine. I've got the curse of Achilles now. I'll all invincible and stuff."**

"I forgot about it," said Leo.

Frank stared at him like he was touched in the head (and he probably was).

**Annabeth didn't look convinced. "Just be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. I mean, because we need you for the battle."**

"Wow, Annabeth, you sound like such a great friend," said Leo.

"Please, Leo, just shut up," sighed Reyna.

**I grinned. "Back in a flash."**

**I clambered down the shoreline and waded into the water.**

"It had to be a weird sight."

**Just for you non-sea-god types out there, don't go swimming m New York Harbor. It may not be as filthy as it was in my mom's day, but that water will still probably make you grow a third eye or have mutant children when you grow up.**

Disgust was displayed on faces with the exception of children of Ceres – they weren't repulsed, they were downright _terrified_.

**I dove into the murk and sank to the bottom. I tried to find the spot where the two rivers' currents seemed equal-where they met to form the bay. I figured that was the best place to get their attention.**

"Whose attention?"

**"HEY!" I shouted in my best underwater voice. **

Teenagers snorted.

**The sound echoed in the darkness. "I heard you guys are so polluted you're embarrassed to show your faces. Is that true?"**

"Ooh!" and "aah!"s spread around the Forum as every person realized why he went down underwater.

**A cold current rippled through the bay, churning up plumes of garbage and silt.**

**"I heard the East River is more toxic," I continued, "but the Hudson smells worse. Or is it the other way around?"**

"It's at the same time smart and dumb," said Annabeth. "How do you manage that?"

"Natural talent."

"You seriously are suicidal," said Jason.

"And I am not surprised anymore," put in cheerfully Ramona. "Remember? I'm not surprised at anything he does anymore. I recommend it, it works."

**The water shimmered. Something powerful and angry was watching me now. I could sense its presence . . . or maybe two presences.**

"No duh."

**I was afraid I'd miscalculated with the insults. What if they just blasted me without showing themselves? **

"Exactly!" said Jason, like it should've been obvious. Because in all honesty – it should be.

**But these were New York river gods. I figured their instinct would be to get in my face.**

Everyone bursted out laughing.

**Sure enough, two giant forms appeared in front of me. At first they were just dark brown columns of silt, denser than the water around them. Then they grew legs, arms, and scowling faces.**

"Ew?" said Diane.

**The creature on the left looked disturbingly like a telkhine. His face was wolfish. His body was vaguely like a seal's-sleek black with flipper hands and feet. His eyes glowed radiation green.**

"Ew," established Andrea.

**The dude on the right was more humanoid. He was dressed in rags and seaweed, with a chain-mail coat made of bottle caps and old plastic six-pack holders. His face was blotchy with algae, and his beard was overgrown. His deep blue eyes burned with anger.**

"Very ew," agreed Ramona.

**The seal, who had to be the god of the East River, **

Leo laughed at that and few people joined him.

**said, "Are you trying to get yourself killed, kid? Or are you just extra stupid?"**

"Both, I think."

**The bearded spirit of the Hudson scoffed. "You're the expert on stupid, East."**

**"Watch it, Hudson," East growled. "Stay on your side of the island and mind your business."**

**"Or what? You'll throw another garbage barge at me?"**

**They floated toward each other, ready to fight.**

"Wow," said Annabeth unimpressed. "So, gods aren't the only ones who manage to act like little kids with millennia of lifetime."

**"Hold it!" I yelled. "We've got a bigger problem."**

**"The kid's right," East snarled. "Let's both kill him, then we'll fight each other."**

Jason raised his hands and looked pointedly at Percy, like 'told you so'. Son of Poseidon stuck out his tongue as an answer.

"Oh, no," said Annabeth dramatically. "I'm so sorry Piper. It's beginning."

The people looked at her blankly but Piper caught on and nodded solemnly.

"I'm afraid so. Before we know it, they'll ditch us for each other."

They both sighed loudly while their boyfriends glanced from one to another to each other.

"I'm missing the joke," said Percy.

Jason nodded slowly.

**"Sounds good," Hudson said.**

**Before I could protest, a thousand scraps of garbage surged off the bottom and flew straight at me from both directions: broken glass, rocks, cans, tires.**

"Uh-oh."

**I was expecting it, though. The water in front of me thickened into a shield. The debris bounced off harmlessly. Only one piece got through-a big chunk of glass that hit my chest and probably should've killed me, but it shattered against my skin.**

"WOO-HOO!" Leo jumped up throwing his arms in the air.

But no one minded him, they all whistled and cheered.

"That will get them to listen to you," grinned Frank.

**The two river gods stared at me.**

**"Son of Poseidon?" East asked.**

**I nodded.**

**"Took a dip in the Styx?" Hudson asked.**

**"Yep."**

**They both made disgusted sounds.**

Everyone laughed.

"Not as stupid as they seem."

**"Well, that's perfect," East said. "Now how do we kill him?"**

**"We could electrocute him," Hudson mused. "If I could just find some jumper cables-"**

Percy snorted.

**"Listen to me!" I said. "Kronos's army is invading Manhattan.'"**

**"Don't you think we know that?" East asked. "I can feel his boats right now. They're almost across."**

Immediately, all the good mood was gone.

**"Yep," Hudson agreed. "I got some filthy monsters crossing my waters too."**

**"So stop them," I said. "Drown them. Sink their boats."**

"Yeah, I'm sure they'd be delighted to do so _for you_ now."

**"Why should we?" Hudson grumbled. "So they invade Olympus. What do we care?"**

"Good point."

**"Because I can pay you." I took out the sand dollar my father had given me for my birthday.**

"The sand dollar," Reyna sighed. "Of course."

"Good thinking," said Jason.

**The river gods' eyes widened.**

"You'd like one, wouldn't you?" cackled someone.

**"It's mine!" East said. "Give it here, kid, and I promise none of Kronos's scum are getting across the East River."**

**"Forget that," Hudson said. "That sand dollar's mine, unless you want me to let all those ships cross the Hudson."**

**"We'll compromise." I broke the sand dollar in half. **

"Uh, can you do that? Isn't it like ripping a real dollar in half?"

"Nope."

**A ripple of clean fresh water spread out from the break, as if all the pollution in the bay were being dissolved.**

"Can you get it somewhere?" said Hazel.

"It could clean all the polluted waters!" said a son of Ceres excitedly.

"I - um, I can ask?" said Percy uncertainly.

All the ecologists nodded and beamed at him.

**"You each get half," I said. "In exchange, you keep all of Kronos's forces away from Manhattan."**

**"Oh, man," Hudson whimpered, reaching out for the sand dollar. "It's been so long since I was clean."**

"Me too."

Everyone looked around but it was impossible to tell who had said it.

**"The power of Poseidon," East River murmured. "He's a jerk, but he sure knows how to sweep pollution away."**

**They looked at each other, then spoke as one: "It's a deal."**

Demigods and legacies breathed out in relief and laughed.

**I gave them each a sand-dollar half, which they held reverently.**

**"Um, the invaders?" I prompted.**

**East flicked his hand. "They just got sunk."**

**Hudson snapped his fingers. "Bunch of hellhounds just took a dive."**

"Woo-hoo!"

**"Thank you," I said. "Stay clean."**

**As I rose toward the surface, East called out, "Hey, kid, any time you got a sand dollar to spend, come on back. Assuming you live."**

**"Curse of Achilles," Hudson snorted. "They always think that'll save them, don't they?"**

"No wonder you're so pessimistic if you hear things like that all the time," scoffed Hazel. "I would be, too."

**"If only he knew," East agreed. They both laughed, dissolving into the water.**

"Bless their souls."

**Back on the shore, Annabeth was talking on her cell phone, but she hung up as soon as she saw me. She looked pretty shaken.**

"Oh no," sighed Piper.

**"It worked," I told her. "The rivers are safe."**

**"Good," she said. "Because we've got other problems. **

"Of course."

**Michael Yew just called. Another army is marching over the Williamsburg Bridge. The Apollo cabin needs help. And Percy, the monster leading the enemy . . . it's the Minotaur."**

"Ugh, why do you have the worst luck?" groaned Ramona, closing the book.

"Let me guess – it's the end of the chapter?" said Leo.

"Yup. That's why I closed the book."

"So, now we get a break?" said Percy casually.

"No way!" protested Piper.

Many agreed with her, too many to fight with, Percy noticed with a sigh. He threw a look towards the woods, wondering how on earth he is supposed to drag Nico over here.

"Now time for some real action" grinned a son of Mars in a way resembling Clarisse.

"Just could someone take the damn book?" Ramona waved it in the air. Andrea snatched it from her hands.

"As you wish."

Percy sunk in his chair, bracing himself for another long chapter.

* * *

**I'm a pathetic, bad, bad excuse of a writer. So sorry, guys. I literally have such pathetic excuses I'm ashamed to write them - Fashion Week and getting drunk. I had this written ages ago, but there wasn't a good moment to update. Sorry. Let's pretend I was supposed to update this weekend, not the last one, okay?**

**Anyway, please REVIEW, give me some feedback! Any IDEAS, CRITICISM or simply NICE WORD are welcome!**

**And I swear, I'll really try to update sooner next time. Till then, thanks for sticking around,**

**Love, Ronnie :)**


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